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THE 

JOURNAL 



TOUR TO THE HEBRIDES. 



IKGSTSON, J 



SAMUEL JOKUS'SON, L.jUD. 

ikfl 



»0 li 

JAMES BOSWELL, ES^ 

CONTAINING 

SOME POETICAL PIECES BY DR. JOHNSON, REIJtS'IVE TO THE TOUR, AND 
NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED; 

A SERIES OF HIS CONVERSATION, LITERARY ANECDOTES, AND OPINIONS OF 
MEN AND BOOKS: 

WITH AN AUTHENTIC ACCOUNT 

OF THE 
DISTRESSES AND ESCAPE OF THE GRANDSON OF laNG JAMES 11, 
IN THE YEA:^, 1746. ^ 



O! while along the stream of time, tliy name 
Expanded flies, and gathers all its fame, tgi 

Say, shitU my little bark attendant sail, 
Pursue the triumph, and partake the g'ale? ,....Pope. 



FROM THE LONDON EDITION, 
REVISED AND CORRECTED BY THE AUTHOR. 



PUBLISHED RY INSKEEP AND BRADFORD, NEW YORK ; AND 
WILLIAM m'ILHENNY, BOSTON. 

1810. 




1t^ 



THE LIBRARY 

Of CONGRESS* 



'^: df. 



mnnav-'H: 



'U^^ 



(X/a-'sujL a^^,^^5 



PRINTED BY R. iSf W. CA.RR, 
NO. 51, SANSOM STREET. 



DEDICATION, 



TO 



EDMOND MALONE, Eso, 



My dear Sir, 

IN every narrative, whether historical or biogra- 
phical, authenticity is of the utmost consequence. Of 
this I have ever been so firmly persuaded, that I inscrib- 
ed a former work to that person who was the best judge 
of its truth. I need not tell you I mean General Paoli ; 
who, after his great, though unsuccessful, eiForts to pre- 
serve the liberties of his country, has found an honoura- 
ble asylum in Britain, where he has now lived many 
years the object of Royal regard and private respect ; 
and whom I cannot name without expressing my. very 
grateful sense of the uniform kindness which he has been 
pleased to shew nae. 

The friends of Dr. Johnson can best judge, from 
internal evidence, whether the numerous conversations 



iv DEDICATION. 

which form the most vakiable part of the ensuing pages, 
are correctly related. To them therefore I wish to ap- 
peal, for the accuracy of the portrait here exhibited to 
the ^v'orld. 

As one of those who were intimately acquainted with 
him, you have a title to this address. You have obliging- 
ly taken the trouble to peruse the original manuscript 
of this Tour, and can vouch for the strict fidelity of the 
present publication. Your literary alliance with our 
much-lamented friend, in consequence of having under- 
taken to render one of his labours more complete, by 
your edition of Shakspeare, a work which I am confi- 
dent will not disappoint the expectations of the publick, 
gives you another claim. But I have a still more power- 
ful inducement to prefix your name to this volume, as 
it gives me an opportunity of letting the world know that 
I enjoy the honour and happiness of your friendship ; 
and of thus publickly testifying the sincere regard with 
which I am, 

My dear Sir, 

Your very faithful 

and obedient servant. 

JAMES BOSWELL. 

Londoiij, 
20th September, 1785. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



BY correcting the errours of the press iii the for- 
mer edition, and some inaccuracies for which the au- 
thour alone is answerable, and by supplying some ad- 
ditional notes, I have endeavoured to render this work 
more deserving of the very high honour which the pub- 
lick has been pleased to shew it ; the whole of the first 
impression having been sold in a few weeks. 

London, 20th Dec. 1785. LB. 



ADVERTISEMENT 



TO THE 



AMERICAN EDITION. 



IN republishing a work, which has so much inter- 
ested and amused the Hterary world, and has so long 
subjected its author to the sarcasms of foes, or to the 
plaudits of friends, it seems but the bounden duty of 
the American editor, to suffer the author in this place 
to offer those vindications which he afterwards saw fit 
to annex to his " Life of Johnson." 

They are calculated in a peculiar manner to do away 
the prejudices of many of his readers. — Many who 
might otherwise think him weak in detailing the Jbibles 
of his illustrious friend, or over vain in the too favour- 
able mention of himself, will be inclined to ascribe them 
to his candour, or to that unconcern which a man may 
manifest who knows he has not departed from the truth. 
That he was proud of the commendation and love of 
him, to whose transcendant genius, all paid homage, 
there can be no doubt : for he has often and cheerfully 
asserted it. But surely Mr. Boswell has often conde- 



ADVERTISEMENT. vii 

scended to expose himself in terms, to which no man 
of ostentatious vanity could have submitted. With what 
naivete and unconcern does he for instance, tell us, that- 
"Johnson told him, that he (Mr. E.) got into the Lite- 
rary Club, by assiduously recommending himself to 
the members ; that several wished to keep him out ; 
and that Burke doubted his fitness, &c." Mr. Bos well 
speaking of this work, says : "I was almost unbound- 
edly open in my communications, and from my eager- 
ness to display the wonderful fertility and readiness 
of Johnson's wit, freely shewed to the world its dex- 
terity, even when I was myself the object of it. 1 
trusted that I should be liberally understood, as know- 
ing very well what I was about, and by no means as 
simply unconscious of the pointed effects of the satire. 
I own, indeed, that I was arrogant enough to suppose 
that the tenour of the rest of the book w^ould sufficiently 
guard me against such a strange imputation. — But it 
seems I judged too well of the world." And again, in 
another place ; " I am fully aware of the objections 
which may be made to the minuteness of my detail of 
Johnson's conversations, and how happily it is adapted 
for the petty exercise of ridicule by men of superficial 
understanding, and ludicrous fancy ; but I remain finn 
and confident in my opinion tliat minute particulars are 
frequently character istick, and always amusing, wheii 
they relate to a distinguished man, — of one tiling I am 
certain, that considering the value set upon the little we 
have of the table-talk and other anecdotes of our aele- 



viii ADVERTISEMENT. 

brated writers, and how earnestly it is regretted that we 
have not more, I am justified in preserving too many 
rather than too few of Johnson's sayings." 

In addition to his own opinion thus given, we think 
it pertinent to subjoin the opinion which his friend John 
Courtenay, Esq. has given of his abihties as a JournaUst 
and Biographer. 

" With Reynolds' pencil, vivid, bold, and true, 
So fervent Boswell gives him to our view^ : 
In every trait we see his mind expand ; 
The master rises by the pupil's hand : 
We love the writer, praise his happy vein, 
Grac'd with the naivete of the sage Montagne. 
Hence, not alone, are brighter parts display'd, 
But e'en the specks of character pourtray'd." 

Fkiladelji/iia, May, ISIO. 



CONTENTS. 



Dedicaton. ... - - Page iii 

Advertisement. . _ - - . v 

Introduction. Character of Dr. Johnson. He arrives in Scot- 
land. - - - - - - 1 to 12 

August 15. Sir W. Forbes, Practice of the law. Emigration. 
Dr. Beattie and Mr. Hume. Dr. Robertson. Mr. Burke's 
various and extraordinary talents. Question concerning genius. 
Whitfield and Wesley. Instructions to political parties. Dr. 
Johnson's opinion of Garrick as a tragedian. - - 12 

August 16. Ogden on Prayer. Aphoristick writing. Edin- 
burgh surveyed. Character of Swift's works. Evil spirits 
and witchcraft. Lord Monboddo. - - - 24 

August 17. Poetry and Dictionary-writing. Scepticism. Eter- 
nal necessity refuted. Lord Hailes's criticism on The Vanity 
of Human Wishes. Mr. Maclaurin. Decision of the Judges 
in Scotland on literary property. - - - - 32 

August 18. Set out to the Hebrides. Sketch of the authour's 
character. Trade of Glasgow. Suicide. Inchkeith. Par- 
liamentary knowledge. Influence of Peers. Popular clamours. 
Arrive at St. Andrews. - - - - 35 

August 19. Dr. Watson. Literature and patronage. Writing 
and conversation compared. Change of manners. The Union. 
Value of money. St. Andrews and John Knox. Retirement 
from the world. Dinner with the Professors. Question con- 
cerning sorrow and content. Instructions for composition. 
Dr. Johnson's method. Uncertainty of memory. - 43 

August 20. Effect of prayer. Observance of Sunday. Professor 
Shaw. Transubstantiation. Literary property. Mr. Tyers's 
remark on Dr. Johnson. Arrive at Montrose. - 5 I 

August 21. Want of trees^ Laurence Kirk. Dinner at Mon- 
boddo. Emigration. Homer. Biography and history com- 
pared. Decrease of learning. Causes of it. Promotion of 



X CONTENTS. 

bishops. Warbui'ton. Lowth. Value of politeness. Dr. 
Johnson's sentiments concerning Lord Monboddo. Arrive at 
Aberdeen. - - - - -'SG 

August 22. Pi'ofessor Thomas Gordon. Publick and private 
education. Sir Alexander Gordon. Trade of A'berdeen. Pre- 
scription of murder in Scotland. Mystery of the Trinity. Sa- 
tisfaction of Christ. Importance of old friendships. - 66 

Jiigust 23. Dr. Johnson made a burgess of Aberdeen. Dinner 
at Sir Alexander Gordon's. Warburton's powers of invective. 
Hh Dociri?!s of Grace. Lock's verses. Fingal. - 72 

August 24, Goldsmith and Graham. Slains castle. Education 
of children, riuller of Buchan. Entails. Consequence of 
Peers. Sir Joshua Reynolds. Earl of Errol. - - 77 

August 25. The advantage of being on good terms with relations. 

Nabobs. Feudal state of subordination. Dinner at Strichen. 

Life of Country gentlemen. The literary club. 86 

. August 25. Lord Monboddo. Use and importance of wealth. 

Elgin. Macbeth's heath. Fores. - - - 91 

August 27. Leonidas. Paul Whitehead. Derrick. Origin of 

Evil. Calder-mansc. Reasonableness of ecclesiastical sub- 

m scription. vFamily worship. - - - - - 96 

Angust 28. Fort George. Sir Adolphus Oughton. Contest 
between Warburton and Lowth. Dinner at Sir Eyre Coote's. 
Arabs and English soldiers compared. The Stage. Mr, 
Garrick, Mrs Cibber, Mrs. Pritchard, Mrs. Clive. Inver- 
ness. - ... .... 101 

August 29. Macbeth's castle. Incorrectness of writers of Tra- 
vels-. Coinage of new words. Dr. Johnson's Dictionary. 107 

August 30. Dr. Johnson on horse-back. A Highland hut. Fort 
Augustus. Governour Trapaud. - - - 110 

Azrgust o\. Anoch. Emigration. Goldsmith. Poets and soldiers 
compared. Life of a sailor. Landlord's daughter at Anoch. 114 

Sefitcmberl. Glensheal. The Macraas. Dr. Johnson's anger at 
being left for a little while by the authour on a wild plain. 
Vv^retched inn at Glenelg. - - - - 119 

fie/item6er2 . Dr. Johnson relents. Isle of Sky. Armidale. 127 

September 3. Colonel Montgomery, now Earl of Eglintoune. 129 

Sejit ember 4. Ancient Highland Enthusiasm. - 130 

September 5. Sir James Macdonaid's epitaph and last letters to 
his mother. Dr. Johnson's Latin ode on the Isle of Sky. Isaac 
Hawkins Browne. - - - - - - 131 



CONTENTS. xi 

Sefitember 6, Corrichatachin. Highland hospitality and mirth. 
Dr, Johnson's Latin ode to Mrs. Thvale. - - 135 

September 7. Uneasy state of dependence on the weather. State 
of those who live in the country. Dr. M'Pherson's Disserta- 
tions. Second Sight. - - - - - 138 

Sefitember 8. Rev. Mr. Donald M'Queen. Mr. Malcolm M'Cleod. 
Sail to Rasay. Fingal. Homer. Elegant and gay entertain- 
ment at Rasay. . . . . . . 140 

Sefitember 9. Antiquity of the family of Rasay. Cure of infide- 
lity. - - 147 

Sefitember \0. Survey of the island of Rasay. Bentley. Mallet. 
Hooke. Duchess of Marlborough. - - - 148 

Sefitember W. Heritable jurisdictions. Insular life. The Laird 
, ofM'Cleod. - 156 

Sefitember 12. Sail to Portree. Dr. Johnson's discourse on death. 
Letters from Lord Elibank to Dr. Johnson and the authour. 
Dr. Johnson's answer. Ride to Kingsburgh. Flora Mac- 
donald. 159 

Sefitember 13. Distresses and escape of the grandson of King- 
James H. Arrive at Dunvegan. - - - 166 

Sefitember 14. Importance of the chastity of women. Dr. Cado- 
gan. Whether the practice of authours is n.ecessary to enforce 
their doctrines. Good humour acquirable. - - 192 

Sefitember 15. Sir George Mackenzie. Mr. Burke's wit, "know- 
ledge, and eloquence. - - - - - 196 

Sefitember 16. Dr. Johnson's hereditary melancholy. His mi- 
nute knowledge in various arts. Apology for the authour's 
ardour in his pursuits. Dr. Johnson's imaginary seraglio. 
Polygamy. - - - - - 198 

Sefitember 17. Cunning. Whether great abilities are necessary 
lo be wicked. Temple of the Goddess Anaitis. Family Por- 
traits. Records not consulted by old PLnglish historians. Mr. 
Pennant's Tours criticised. ----- 202 

Sefitember 18. Ancient residence of a Highland Chief. Lan- 
guages the pedigree of nations. Laird of the Isle of Muck 207 

Sefitember 19. Choice of a wife. Women an overmatch for men. 
Lady Grange in St. Kilda. Poetiy of savages. French lite- 
rati. Prize-fighting. French and English soldiers. Duel- 
ling. - - - - - - 212 

Sefitember 20. Change of London manners. Laziness censur- 



sii CONTENTS. 

'" ed. Landed and traded inteixst compared. Gratitude consi» 
dered. - - - - - - 216 

September 21. Description of Dunvegan. Lord Lovat's Py- 
ramid. Ride to Ulinish. Phipps's Voyage to the North 
Pole. - - - - - - 219 

Sefitember 22. Subterraneous house and vast cave in Ulinish-, 
Swift's Lord Orrery. Defects as well as virtues the proper 
subject of biography, though the life be written by a friend. 
Studied conclusions of letters. Whether allowable in dying 
men to maintain resentment to the last. Instructions for writing 
the lives of literary men. Fingal denied to be genuine, and 
pleasantly ridiculed. - _ _ - 222 

Sejitember 23. Further disquisition concerning Fingal. Eminent 
men disconcerted by a new mode of publick appearance. Gar- 
rick. Mrs. Montague's Essay on Shakspeare. Persons of 
consequence watched in London. Learning of the Scots from 
1550 to 1650. The arts of civil life little known in Scotland 
till the Union. Life of a sailoi'. The folly of Peter the 
Great in working in a dock-yard. Arrive at Talisker. Pres- 
byterian clergy deficient in learning. - - 227 

September 24. French hunting. Young Col. Dr. Birch. Dr. 
Percy. Lord Haiies. Historical impartiality. Whiggism 
unbecoming in a clergyman. . . - 238 

Septe^nber 25. Evei'y island a prison. A Sky cottage. Return 
to Corrichatachin. Good fellowship carried to excess. 240., 

September 26. Morning review of last night's intemperance. 
Old Kingsburgh's Jacobite song. Lady Margaret Macdonald 
adored in Sky. Different views of the same subject at diifer- 
ent times. Self-deception. 243 

Sejitember 27. Dr. Johnson's popularity in the Isle of Sky. His 
good-humoured gaiety with a Highland lady. - 246 

September 28. Ancient Irish pride of family. Dr. Johnson on 
threshing and thatching. Dangerous to inci'ease the price of 
labour. Arrive at Ostig. Dr. M'Pherson's Latin poetry. 248 

September 29. Reverend Mr. M'Pherson. Shenstone. Ham- 
mond. Sir Charles Hanbury Williams. - - 253 

September 30. Mr. Burke the first man every where. Very mode- 
rate talents requisite to make a figure in the House of Commons. 
Dr. Young. Dr. Doddridge. Increase of infidel writings since the 
accession of the Hanover family. Gradual impression made by 
Dr. Johnson. Particular minutes to be kept of our studies. 255 



CONTENTS. xiii 

October 1 . Dr. Johnson not answerable for all the words in his 
Dictionary. Attacks on authours useful to them. Return to 
Armidale. - - - - - -- - 258 

October 2. Old manners of great families in Wales. German 
courts. Goldsmith's love of talk. Emigration. Curious story 
of the people of Saint Kilda. - - - - 260 

October 3. Epictetus on the voyage of death. Sail for Mull. A 
storm. Driven into Col. - - - - 264 

October 4. Dr Johnson's mode of living in the Temple. His 
curious appearance on a sheltie. Nature of sea-sickness. 
Burnet's Histoiy of his own Times. Difference between dedi- 
cations and histories. - - - - - 2 To 

October 5. People may come to do any thing by talking of it. 
The Reverend Mr. Hector Maclean. Bayle. Leibnitz and 
Clarke. Survey of Col. Insular life. Arrive at Breacacha. 
Dr. Johnson's powers of ridicule. - - 272 

October 6. Heritable jurisdictions. The opinion of philosophers 
concerning happiness in a cottage, considered. Advice to 
landlords. ----- 278 

October 7. Books the best solace in a state of confinement. 280 

October 8. Pretended brother of Dr. Johnson. No redress for a 
man's name being affixed to a foolish work. Lady Sidney 
Beauclerk. Carte's Life of the Duke of Ormond. Col's cabi- 
net. Lettei's of the great Montrose. Present state of the 
island of Col. - 281 

October 9. Dr. Johnson's avidity for a variety of books. Impro- 
bability of Highland tradition. Dr. Johnson's delicacy of feel- 
ing. --...-.- 288 

October 10. Dependence of tenants on landlords. - - 290 

October 11. London and Pekin compared. Dr. Johnson's high 
opinion of the former. - - - 291 

October 12. Return to Mr. M'Sweyn's. Other superstitions be- 
side those connected with religion. Dr. Johnca disgusted with 
coarse naanners. His peculiar habits. - - 292 

October 13. Bustle not necessary to dispatch. Oats the food not 
of the Scotch alone. - - - - 294 

October 14. Arrive in Mull. Addison's Remarks on Iiulij, Ad- 
dison not much conversant with Italian literature. The 
French masters of the art of accomodating literature. Their 
Ana. Racine. Corneille. Moliere. Fenelon. Voltaire, 



XJV CONTENTS. 

Bossuet. Massfllon. Bourdaloue. Virgil's description of the 
entrance into hell, compared to a printing-house. - 295 

Oc(obe7- 15. Erse poetry. Danger of knowledge of music. The 
propriety of settling our affairs so as to be always prepared 
for death. Religion and literary attainments not to be descri- 
bed to young persons as too hard. Reception of the tra- 
vellers in their progress. Spence. - - - 301 

October 16. Miss Maclean. Account of Mull. The value of an 
oak walking-stick in the Hebrides. Arrive at Mr. M'Quarrie's 
in Ulva. Captain Macleod. Second Sight. Mercheta Mulie- 
rum, and Borough-English. The grounds on which the sale 
of an estate may be set aside in a court of equity. - 305 

October 17. Arrive at Inchkenneth. Sir Allan Maclean and his 
daughters. None but theological books should be read on 
Sunday. Dr. Campbell. Di'. Johnson exhibited as a High- 
lander. Thoughts OR drinking. Dr. Johnson's Latin verses 
on Inchkenneth. ■ - - - 310 

October 13. Young Col's various good qualities. No extraordinary 
talents requisite to success in trade. Dr. Solander. Mr. 
Buike. Di. Joli-ison's intrepidity and presence of mind. Sin- 
guiai- custom in the islands of Col and Otaheite. Further eulo- 
gium en young Ccl. Credulity of a Frenchman in foreij^n 
countiies. - - - - - 314 

October 19. Death of young Col. Dr. Johnson slow of belief 
vvithout strong evidence. La credulite ties incredulcs. Coast 
of Mull. Nun'j Iskaid. Past scenes pleasing in recollection. 
Land on Icolmkill. - . - ' - 318 

October 20. Sketch of the ruins at Icolmkill. Influence of so- 
lemn scenes of piety. Feudal authority in the extreme. Re- 
turn to Mull. ..... 323 

October ^\. Pulteney. Pitt. Walpole. Mr. Wilkes. English and 
Jewish history compared. Scotland composed of stone and 
water, and a little earth. Turkish Spy. Dreary ride to Loch- 
buy. Description of the laird. ... 325 

October 22. U^ncommon breakfast offered to Dr. Johnson, and re- 
jected. Lochbuy's wai'-saddle. Sail to Oban. - 330 

October 23. Goldsmith's Tra-veller. Pope and Cowley compared. 
Archibald Duke of Argyle. Arrive at Inveraray. Dr. John- 
son drinks some whisky, and assigns his reason. Letter from 
the authour to Mr. Garrick. Mr. Garrick's answer. 332 

October 24,. Specimen of Ogden on Prayer. Hcvvey's Me dit a- 



CONTENTS. XV 

lions. Dr. Johnson's Meditation on a Pudding. Country 
neighbours. The author's visit at the castle of Inveraray, 
Perverse opposition to the influence of Peers in Ayrshire. 338 

October 25. Dr. Johnson presented to the Duke of Argyle. Gran- 
deur of his grace's seat. The authour possesses himself in an 
embarrassing situation. Honourable Archibald Campbell on 
a 7niddle stated The old Lord Townshend. Question concern- 
ing luxury. Nice trait of character. Good principles and bad 
practice. . - . - . 343 

October 26. A passage in Home's Douglas, and one in Juvenal 
compared. Neglect of religious buildings in Scotland. Ar- 
rive at Sir James Colquhoun's. - - - 348 

October 27. Dr. Johnson's letter to the Duke of Argyle. His 
grace's answer. Lochlomond. Dr. Johnson's sentiments on 
dress. Forms of prayer considered. Arrive at Mr. Smollet's 

351 

October 28. Dr Smollet's Epitaph. Dr. Johnson's wonderful me- 
mory. His alacrity during the Tour. Arrive at Glasgow. 355 

October 29. Glasgow surveyed. Attention of the professors to Dr. 
Johnson. - . . _ - 359 

October 30. Dinner at the Earl of Loudoun's. Character of 
that nobleman. Arrive at Treesbank. - - 360 

October o\. Sir John Cunningham of Caprington. - 362 

A'ovejnber 1. Rules for the disti'ibution of charity. Castle of 
Dundonald. Countess of Eglintoune. Alexander Earl of 
Eglintoune. - - - - - - ib. 

Ko-vember 2. Arrive at Auchinleck. Character of Lord Auchin- 
leck. His idea of Dr. Johnson. - - - 365 

JVoveinber 3. Dr. Johnson's sentiments concerning the Highlands. 
Mr. Harris of Salisbury. - - - - - 366 

Ko-vember 4. Auchinleck. Cattle Avithout horns. Composure of 
mind how far attainable. ... 368 

.Yovember 5. Dr. Johnson's high respect for the English clergy. 

371 

JVovember 6. Lord Auchinleck and Dr. Johnson in collision, ib. 

Jstovember 7. Dr. Johnson's uniform piety. His dislike of pres- 
byterian worship. - - .... 373 

J\''.Q-v ember 8. Arrive at Hamilton - - - - ib. 

JVovember 9. The Duke of Hamilton's house. Arrive at Edin- 
burgh. 374 

Xovembcv 10, Lord Elibank. Difference in political principles 



xvi CONTENTS. 

increased by opposition. Edinburgh Castle. Fingal. Eng- 
lish credulity not less than Scottish. Second Sight. Garrick 
and Foote compared as companions. Moravian Missions and 
Methodism. - ... - ib. 

November 11. History originally oral. Dr. Robertson's liberality 
of sentiment. Rebellion natural to man. - - 381 



Summary account of the manner in which Dr. Johnson spent 
his time from November 12 to November 21. Lord Mans- 
field. Mr. Richardson. The private life of an English Judge. 
Dr. Johnson's high opinion of Dr. Robertson and Dr. Blair. 
Letter from Dr. Blair to the authour. Officers of the army 
often ignorant of things belonging to their own profession. 
Academy for the deaf and dumb. A Scotch Highlander and 
an English sailor. Attacks on authours advantageous to 
them. Roslin Castle and Hawthornden. Dr. Johnson's Paro- 
dy of Sir John Dahymple's Memoirs. Arrive at Cranston. 
Dr. Johnson's departure for London. Letters from Lord 
Hailes and Mr. Dempster to the authour. Letter from the 
Laird of Rasay to the authour. The authour's answer. Dr. 
Johnson's Advertisement, acknowledging a mistake in his 
Journey to the Western Islands. His letter to the Laird of Ra- 
say. Letter from Sir William Forbes to the authour. Con- 
clusion. - - . - - - 383 
Appendix. - - - - - . 409 



He was of an admirable pregnancy of wit, and that 
pregnancy much improved by continual study f.rom 
his childhood ; by which he had gotten such a 
promptness in expressing his mind, that his extem- 
poral speeches were little inferiour to his preme- 
DITATED WRITINGS. Many,- NO doubt, had read as 

HUCH, AND PERHAPS MORE THAN HE ; BUT SCARCE EVER 
ANY CONCOCTED HjS READING INTO JUDGEMENT AS HE 
BIS. 

Baker's Chronicle. 



* 



THE 

JOURNAL 



OF 



A TOUR TO THE HEBRIDES, 



WITH 



SAMUEL JOHNSON, L. L. D. 



DR. JOHNSON had for many years given me 
hopes that we should go together, and visit the He- 
brides. Martin's Account of those islands had im- 
pressed us with a notion that we might there contem- 
plate a system of life almost totally different from what 
we had been accustomed to see ; and, to find simplicity 
and wildness, and all the circumstances of remote time 
or place, so near to our native great island, was an ob- 
ject within the reach of reasonable curiosity. Dr. John- 
son has said in his " Journey," " that he scarcely re- 
membered how the wish to visit the Hebrides was ex- 
cited ;" but he told me, in summer, 1763, that his fa- 
ther put Martin's Account into his hands when he was 
very young, and that he was much pleased with it. 
We reckoned there would be some inconveniencies 
and hardships, and perhaps a little danger ; but these 
we were persuaded were magnified in the imagination 
of every body. When I was at Ferney, in 1764, t 

B 



2 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

mentioned our design to Voltaire. He looked at me,, 
as if I had talked of going to the North Pole, and said 
" You do not insist on my accompanying you ?"— 
*' No, sir." — "Then I am very willing you should go." 
I was not afraid that our curious expedition would be^ 
prevented by such apprehensions ; but I doubted that 
it would not be possible to prevail on Dr. Johnson to 
relinquish, for some time, the felicity of a London life, 
which, to a man who can enjoy it with full intellectual 
relish, is apt to make existence in any narrower sphere 
seem insipid or irksome. I doubted that he would not 
be willing to come down from his elevated state of phi- 
losophical dignity ; from a superiority of wisdom among 
the wise, and of learning among the learned ; and from 
flashing his wit upon minds bright enough to reflect it. 
He had disappointed my expectation so long, that I 
began to despair; but in spring, 1773, he talked of 
coming to Scotland that year with so much firmness,. 
that I hoped he was at last in earnest. I knew that, if 
he were once launched from the metropolis, he would 
go forward very well ; and I got our common friends 
there to assist in setting him afloat. To Mrs. Thrale in 
particular, whose enchantment over him seldom failed, 
I was much obliged. It was, " I'll give thee a wind.^'" 
■ — " l^hou art kindy-— To attract him, we had invita- 
tions from the chiefs Macdonald and Macleod; and, 
for additional aid, I wrote to Lord Elibank, Dr. William. 

Robertson, and Dr. Beattie. 

* 

To Dr. Robertson, so ilir as my letter concerned the 
present subject, I wrote as follows : 

" OUR friend, Mr. Samuel Johnson, is in great 
" health and spirits ; and, I do think, has a serious re- 
" solution to visit Scotland this year. The more at- 
■^^ traction, however, the better; and therefore, though 



i)|Ni'' 



TO THE HEBRIDES. S 

"' I know he will be happy to meet you there, it will 
^' forward the scheme, if, in your answer to this, you 
^'express yourself confcerning it with that power of 
" which you are so happily possessed, and which may 
'* be so directed as to operate strongly upon him." 

His answer to that part of my letter was quite as I 
could have wished. It was written w-ith the address 
and persuasion of the historian of America. 

" WHEN I saw you last, you gave us some hopes 
" that you might prevail with Mr, Johnson to make out 
" that excursion to Scotland, with the expectation of 
*' which we have long flattered ourselves. If he could 
'' order matters so, as to pass some time in Edinburgh 
*' about the close of the summer session, and then visit 
" some of the Highland scenes, I am confident he 
" would be pleased with the grand features of nature 
" in many parts of this country : he will meet with 
" many persons here who respect him, and some whom 
" I am persuaded he will think not unworthy of his es- 
" teem. I wish he would make the experiment. He 
" sometimes cracks his jokes upon us ; but he will find 
" that we can distinguish between the stabs of malevo- 
" lence, and the rebukes of the righteous^ which are 
" like excellent oil,'^' and break not the head. Offer my 
"'compliments to him, and assure him that I shall be 
" happy to have the satisfaction of seeing him under 
" my roof." 

To Dr. Beattie I wrote, " The chief intention of this 
^' letter is to inform you, that I now seriously believe 
*' Mr, Samuel Johnson will visit Scotland this year : 
''but 1 wish that every power of attraction may be em- 

* Our friend Edmund Burke, who by this time had received some pretty se- 
vere rubs from Dr. Johnson, on account of the unhappy difference in their poli- 
ticks, upon my repeating this passage to him, exclaimed, " Oil of vitriol '," 



4 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

" ployed to secure our having so valuable an acquisi- 
"tion, and therefore I hope you will, without delay 
" w^rite to me what I know you think, that I may read 
" it to the mighty sage, with proper emphasis before I 
" leave London, which I must do soon. He talks of 
*' you with the same warmth that he did last year. We 
*' are to see as much of Scotland as we can, in the 
*' months of August and September. We shall not be 
*' long of being at Marischal College.* He is particu- 
" larly desirous of seeing some of the Western Islands.'^ 

Dr. Beattie did better : ipse venit. He was however, 
so polite as to wave his privilege of nil mihi rescribas^ 
and wrote as follows : 

"YOUR very kind and agreeable favour of the 
" 20th of April overtook me here yesterday, after having 
" gone to Aberdeen, which place I left about a week 
" ago. I am to set out this day for London, and hope 
" to have the honour of paying my respects to Mr. 
"Johnson and you, about a week or ten days hence. 
^' I shall then do what I can, to enforce the topick you 
" mention ; but at present I cannot enter upon it, as I 
" am in a very great hurry ; for I intend to begin my 
"journey within an hour or two." 

He was as good as his word, and threw some pleas- 
ing motives into the northern scale. But indeed, Mr. 
Johnson loved all that he heard from one whom he tells 
lis, in his Lives of the Poets, Gray found " a poet, a 
philosopher, and a good man." 

My Lord Elibank did not answer my letter to his 
lordship for some time. The reason will appear, when 
we come to the isle of Sky. I shall then insert my let- 
ter, with letters from his lordship, both to myself and 

* This, I find, is a Scotticism, I should have said, "It will not be long be- 
'' fore we shall be at Marischal College." 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 5 

Mr Johnson. I beg it may be understood, that I in- 
sert my own letters, as I relate my own sayings, rather 
as keys to what is valuable belonging to others, than for 
their own sake. 

Luckily Mr. Justice (now Sir Robert) Chambers, 
who was about to sail for the East- Indies, was going 
to take leave of his relations at Newcastle, and he con- 
ducted Dr. Johnson to that town. Mr. Scott, of Uni- 
versity College Oxford, (now Dr. Scott, of the Com- 
mons,) accompanied him from thence to Edinburgh. 
With such propitious convoys did he proceed to my 
native city. But, lest metaphor should make it be sup- 
posed he actually went by sea, I chuse to mention that 
he travelled in post-chaises, of which the rapid motion 
was one of his most favourite amusements. 

Dr. Samuel Johnson's character, religious, moral, 
political, and Uterary, nay his figure and manner, are, I 
believe more generally known than those of almost any 
man ; yet it may not be superfluous here to attempt a 
sketch of him. Let my readers then remember that he 
was a sincere and zealous Christian, of high-church of 
England and monarchical principles, which he would 
not tamely suffer to be questioned ; steady and inflexi- 
ble in maintaining the obligations of piety and virtue, 
both from a regard to the order of society, and from a 
veneration for the Great Source of all order ; correct, 
nay stern in his taste ; hard to please, and easily ofibnd- 
ed ; impetuous and irritable in his temper, but of a 
most humane and benevolent heart ; having a mind 
stored with a vast and various collection of learning 
and knowledge, which he communicated With peculiar 
perspicuity and force, in rich and choice expression. 
He united a most logical head with a most fertile ima- 
gination, which gave him an extraordinary advantage in 



6 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

arguing ; for he could reason close or wide, as lie saw 
best for the moment. He could, when he chose it, be 
the greatest sophist that ever wielded a weapon in the 
schools of declamation ; but he indulged this only in con- 
versation ; for he owned he sometimes talked for victory : 
he was too conscientious to make error permanent and 
pernicious, by deliberately writing it. He was conscious 
of his superiority. He loved praise when it was brought 
to him ; but was too proud to seek for it. He was 
somewhat susceptible of flattery. His mind was so full 
of imagery, that he might have been perpetually a poet. 
It has been often remarked, that in his poetical pieces, 
which it is to be regretted are so few, because so excel- 
lent, his style is easier than in his prose. There is de- 
ception in this : it is not easier, but better suited to the 
dignity of verse ; as one may dance with grace, whose 
motions, in ordinar}^ walking,— -in the common step, 
are awkward. He had a constitutional melancholy, 
the clouds of v/hich darkened the brightness of his 
fancy, and gave a gloomy cast to his whole course of 
thinking : yet, though grave and awful in his deport- 
ment, when he thought it necessary or pioper, — he 
frequently indulged himself in pleasantry and sportive 
sallies. He was prone to superstition, but not to cre- 
dulity. Though his imagination might incline him to 
a belief of the marvellous and the mysterious, his vigo- 
rous reason examined the evidence with jealousy. He 
had a loud voice, and a slow deliberate utterance, 
which no doubt gave some additional weight to the 
sterling metal of his conversation. Lord Pembroke 
said once to me at Wilton, with a happy pleasantry, 
and some truth, that " Dr. Johnson's sayings would 
'' not appear so extraordinary, were it not for his boiv- 
^^wow way.'" but I admit the truth of this only on 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 7 

some occasions. The Messiah^ played upon the Can- 
terbury organ J is more sublime than when played upon 
an inferior instrument : but very slight musick will 
seem grand, when conveyed to the ear through that 
majestick medium. While therefore Doctor Johnson's 
sayings are read, let his manner be taken along xvith 
them. Let it however be observed, that the sayings 
themselves are generally great ; that, though he might 
be an ordinary composer at times, he was for the most 
part a Handel. — His person was large, robust, I may 
say approaching to the gigantick, and grown unwieldy 
from corpulency. His countenance was naturally of 
the cast of an ancient statue, but somewhat disfigured 
v^ by the scars of that evil, which, it was formerly imagi- 
ned, the royal touch could cure. He was now in his 
sixty-fourth year, and was become a little dull of hear- 
ing. His sight had always been somewhat weak ; yet 
so much does mind govern, and eveu supply the defici- 
ency of organs, that his perceptions were uncommonly 
quick and accurate. His head, and sometimes also his 
body, shook with a kind of motion like the effect of a 
palsy : he appeared to be frequently disturbed by 
cramps, or convulsive contractions,* of the nature of 
that distemper callled St. Vitus'' s d^mce. He wore a 
full suit of plain brown clothes, with twisted hair but- 
tons of the same colour, a large bushy greyish wig, a 
plain shirt, black worsted stockings, and silver buckles- 
Upon this tour, when journeying, he wore boots, and 

* Such they appeared to me ; but since the former edition. Sir Joshua Rev- 
aolds has observed to me, '« that Dr. Johnson's extraordinary gestures were only- 
habits, in which he indulged himself ut certain times. When in company where 
he was not free, or when engaged earnestly in conversation, he never gave way 
to such habits, which proves that they were not involuntarv'." I still however 
think, that these gestures were invokintary ; for surely hafl not that been the case 
he would have res'rained theiji in the publick streets. 



8 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

a very wide brown cloth great coat, with pockets which 
might have almost held the two volumes of his folio 
dictionary ; and he carried in his hand a large English 
oak stick. Let me not be censured for mentioning 
such minute particulars. Every thing relative to so 
great a man is worth observing. I remember Dr. 
Adam Smith, in his rhetorical lectures at Glasgow, 
told us he was glad to know that Milton wore latches 
in his shoes, instead of buckles. When I mention the 
oak stick, it is but letting Hercules have his club ; and 
by-and-by, my readers will find this stick will bud, and 
produce a good joke. 

This imperfect sketch of "the combination and 
theyor/72" of that Wonderful Man, whom I venerated 
and loved while in this world, and after whom I gaze 
with humble hope, now that it has pleased Almighty 
God to call him to a better world, will serve to intro- 
duce to the fancy of my readers the capital object of 
the following journal in the course of which I trust they 
will attain to a considerable degree of acquaintance with 
him. 

His prejudice against Scotland was announced al- 
most as soon as he began to appear in the world of let- 
lers. In his London^ a poem, are the following nervous 
]ines : 

" For who would leave, unbrib'd Hibernia's land ? 
" Or change the rocks of Scotland for the Strand ? 
" There none are swept by sudden fate away ; 
" But all, whom hunger spares, with age decay." 

The truth is, like the ancient Greeks and Romans, 
he allowed himself to look upon all nations but his own 
as barbarians : not only Hibernia, and Scotland, but 
Spain, Italy, and France are attacked in the same poem. 
If he was particularly prejudiced against the Scots, it 



TO THE HEBRIDES. § 

Was because they were more in his way ; because he 
thought their success in England rather exceeded the 
due proportion of their real merit; and because he 
could not but see in them that nationality which I be- 
^?l?^ no liberal-minded Scotsman will deny. He was 
indeed, if I may be allowed the phrase, at bottom much 
of a John Bull ; much of a blunt true-born Englishman. 
There was a stratum of common clay under the rock 
©f marble. He was voraciously fond of good eating j 
and he had a great deal of that quality called humour^ 
which gives an oiliness and a gloss to every other qua- 
lity. 

I am, I flatter myself, completely a citizen of the 
world — In my travels through Holland, Germany, 
Switzerland, Italy, Corsica, Frai:kce, I never felt myself 
from home ; and I sincerely love " every kindred and 
" tongue and people ^d nation." I subscribe to what 
my late truly learned and philosophical friend Mr. 
Crosbie said, that the English are better animals than 
the Scots ; they are nearer the sun ; their blood is 
richer, and more mellow : but when I humour any of 
them in an outrageous contempt of Scotland, I fairly 
own I treat them as children. And thus I have, at 
some moments, found myself obliged to treat even Dn 
Johnson. 

To Scotland however he ventured ; and he return- 
ed from it in great good humour, with his prejudices 
much lessened, and with very grateful feelings of the 
hospitality with which he was treated; as is evident 
from that admirable work, his " Journey to the Western 
Islands of Scotland," which, to my utter astonishment, 
has been misapprehended, even to rancour, by many 
of my countrymen. 

To have the company of Chambers and Scott, he 



1*0 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

his journey so long, that the court of session, 
rises on the eleventh of August, was broke up 
before he got to Edinburgh. 

On Satuixlay the fourteenth of August, 1773, late in 
the evening, I received a note from him, that he was 
arrived at Boyd's inn, at the head of the Canongate. 
I went to him directly. He embraced me cordially ; 
and I exulted in the thought, that I now had him actu- 
ally in Caledonia. Mr. Scott's amiable manners, and 
attachment to our Socrates, at once united me to him. 
He told me that, before I came in, the doctor had un- 
luckily had a bad specimen of Scottish cleanliness. 
He then drank no fermented liquor. He asked to have 
his lemonade made sweeter ; upon which the waiter, 
with his greasy fingers, lifted a lump of sugar, and 
put it into it. The doctor, in indignation, threw it out 
of the window. Scott said, he 'was afraid he would 
have knocked the waiter down. Mr. Johnson told me, 
thsit such another trick was played him at the house of 
a lady in Paris. He was to do me the honour to lodge 
under my roof. I regretted sincerely that I had not 
also a room for Mr. Scott. Mr. Johnson and I walked 
arm-in-arm up the High-street, to my house in James's 
court : it was a dusky night ; I could not prevent his 
being assailed by the evening effluvia of Edinburgh. I 
heard a late baronet, of some distinction in the political 
world in the beginning of the present reign, observe, 
that " walking the streets of Edinburgh at night was 
*' pretty perilous, and a good deal odoriferous." The 
peril is much abated, by the care which the magistrates 
have taken to enforce the city laws against throwing 
foul water from the windows ; but, from the structure 
of the houses in the old town, which consist of many 
stories, in each of which a different family lives, and 



TO THE HEBRIDES. U 

there being no covered sewers, the odour still continues. 
A zealous Scotchman would have wished Mr. Johnson to 
be without one of his five senses upon this occasion. As 
we marched slowly along, he grumbled in my ear, " I 
smell you in the dark !" But he acknowledged that the 
breadth of the street, and the loftiness of the buildings 
on each side, made a noble appearance. 

My wife had tea ready for him, which it is well 
known he delighted to drink at all hours, particularly 
when sitting up late, and of which his able defence 
against Mr. Jonas Hanway should have obtained him 
a magnificent reward from the East- India Company. 
He shewed much complacency, upon finding that the 
mistress of the house was so attentive to his singular 
habit ; and as no man could be more polite when he 
chose to be so, his address to her was most courteous 
and engaging ; and his conversation soon charmed her 
into a forgetfulness of his external appeai'ance. 

I did not begin to keep a regular full journal till 
some days after we had set out from Edinburgh ; but 
I have luckily preserved a good many fragments of his 
Memorabilia from his very first evening in Scotland. 

We had a little before this, had a trial for murder, 
in which the judges had allowed the lapse of twenty 
years since its commission as a plea in bar, in confor- 
mity with the doctrine of prescription in the civil law, 
which Scotland and several other countries in Europe 
have adopted. He at first disapproved of this ; but 
ihen he thought there was something in it, if there ha^ 
been for twenty years a neglect to prosecute a crime 
which was known. He would not allow that a mur- 
der, by not being discovered for twenty years, should 
escape punishment. We talked of the ancient trial by 
duel. He did not think it so absurd as is generally 



IB JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

supposed ; " For (said he) it was only allowed when 
the question was in eguilibrio, as when one affirmed 
and another denied ; and they had a notion that Provi- 
dence would interfere in favour of him who was in 
the right. But as it was found that in a duel, he who 
was in the right had not a better chance than he who 
was in the wrong, therefore society instituted the pre- 
sent mode of trial, and gave the advantage to him who 
fe in the right." 

We sat till near two in the morning, having chatted 
a good while after my wife left us. She had insisted, 
that to shew all respect to the Sage, she would give 
up our own bed-chamber to him, and take a worse. 
This I cannot but gratefully mention, as one of a thou- 
sand obligations which I owe her, since the great obli- 
gation of her being pleased to accept of me as her hus- 
band. 

Sujiday ISth August. 

Mr. Scott came to breakfast, at which I introduced 
to Dr. Johnson, and him, my friend Sir William 
Forbes, now of Pitsligo ; a man of whom too much 
good cannot be said ; v/ho, with distinguished abilities 
and application in his profession of a Banker, is at once 
a good companion, and a good christian ; which I think 
is saying enough. Yet it is but justice to record, that 
once, when he was in a dangerous illness, he was 
watched with the anxious apprehension of a general ca- 
lamity ; day and night his house was beset with aifec- 
tionate inquiries; and, upon his recovery, Te Deum 
was the universal chorus from the hearts of his coun- 
trymen,. 



'^ 



i, TO THE HEBRIDES. 13 

Mr. iohnson was pleased with my daughter Vero- 
fiica,* then a child of about four months old. She had 
the appearance of listening to him. His motions seem- 
ed to her to be intended for her amusement ; and when 
he stopped, she fluttered, and made a little infantine 
noise, and a kind of signal for him to begin again. She 
would be held close to him ; which was a proof, from 
simple nature, that his figure was not horrid. Her 
fondness for him endeared her still moVe to me, and I 
declared she should have five hundred pounds of ad- 
ditional fortune. 

We talked of the practice of the law. Sir William 
Forbes, said, he thought an honest lawyer should never 
undertake a cause which he was satisfied was not a just 
one. " Sir, (said Mr. Johnson,) a lawyer has no busi- 
ness with the justice or injustice of the cause which he 
undertakes, unless his client asks his opinion, and then 
he is bound to give it honestly. The justice or injus- 
tice of the cause is to be decided by the judge. Con- 
sider, Sir ; what is the purpose of courts of justice ? It 
is, that every man may have his cause fairly tried, by 



* The saint's name of Veronica, was introduced into our family through my 
great grandmother Veronica, Countess of Kincardine, a Dutch lady of the noble 
house of Sommelsdyck, of which there is a full account in Bayle's Dictionary. 
The family had once a princely right in Surinam. The governour of that island 
was appointed by the States General, the town of Amsterdam, and Sommels- 
dyck. The States General have acquired Sommelsdyck's right ; but the family 
has still great dignity and opulence, and by intermarriages is connected with 
iTiany other noble families. When I was at the Hague, I was received with all 
the affection of kindred. The present Sommelsdyck has an iniportant charge 
iu the Republick, and is as worthy a man as lives. He has honoured me with 
his correspondence for these twenty years. My great grandfather, the husband 
of Countess Veronica, was Alexander, Earl of Kincardine, that cm'mewt Royalist 
whose character is given by Burnet, in his History of his own , Tinies< From 
hiin the blood of Bruce flows in my veins. Of such ancestry who would not be 
proud ? And, as Nihil est, nisi hoc sciat alter, is peculiarly true of genealogy, who 
would not be glad to seize a fair opportunity to let it be known ? 



H JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

men appointed to try causes. A lawyer is not to tell 
what he knows to be a lie : he is not produce what he 
knows to be a false deed ; but he is not to usurp the 
province of the jury and of the judge, and determine 
what shall be the effect of evidence, — what shall be the 
result of legal argument. As it rarely happens that a 
man is fit to plead his own cause, lawyers are a class of 
the community, who, by study and experience, have ac- 
quired the art and power of arranging evidence, and of 
applying to the points at issue what the law has settled. 
A lawyer is to do for his client all that his client might 
fairly do for himself, if he could. If, by a superiority 
of attention, of knowledge, of skill, and a better me- 
thod of communication, he has the advantage of his 
adversary, it is an advantage to which he is entitled. 
There must always be some advantage, on, one side or 
other : and it is better that advantage should be had by 
talents, than by chance. If lawyers were to undertake 
no causes till they were sure they were just, a man 
might be precluded altogether from a trial of his claim 
though, were it judicially examined, it might be found 
a very just claim." — This was sound practical doctrine, 
and rationally repressed a too refined scrupulosity of 
conscience. 

Emigration was at this time a common topick of 
discourse. Dr. Johnson regretted it as hurtful to hu- 
man happiness : " For (said he) it spreads mankind, 
which weakens the defence of a nation, and lessens the 
comfort of living. Men, thinly scattered, make a shift, 
but a bad shift, without many things. A smith is ten 
miles off : they'll do without a nail or a staple. A tay-. 
lor is far from them : they'll botch their own clothes. 
It is being concentrated which produces high conveni- 
ence." 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 15 

Sir William Forbes, Mr. Scott, and I, accompanied 
Mr. Johnson to the chapel, founded by Lord Chief 
Baron Smith, for the service of the chmxh of England. 
The Reverend Mr. Carre, the senior clergyman, preach- 
ed from these words, " Because the Lord reigneth, let 
the earth be glad." — I was sorry to think Mr. Johnson 
did not attend to the sermon, Mr. Carre's low voice not 
being strong enough to reach his hearing. A selection 
of Mr. Carre's sermons has, since his death, been pub- 
lished by Sir William Forbes, and the world has ac- 
knowledged their uncommon merit. I am well assur- 
ed Lord Mansfield has pronounced them to be excel- 
lent. 

Here I obtained a promise from Lord Chief Baron 
Orde, that he would dine at my house next day. I 
presented Mr. Johnson to his Lordship, who politely 
said to him, " I have not the honour of knowing you ; 
" but I hope for it, and to see you at my house. I am 
" to wait on you to-morrow." This respectable English 
judge will be long remembered in Scotland, where he 
built an elegant house, and lived in it magnificently. 
His own ample fortune, with the addition of his salary, 
enabled him to be splendidly hospitable. It may be 
fortunate for an individual amongst ourselves to be 
Lord Chief Baron ; and a most worthy man now has 
the office : but, in my opinion, it is better for Scotland 
in general, that some of our publick employments should 
be filled by gentlemen of distinction from the south side 
of the Tweed, as we have the benefit of promotion in 
England. Such an interchange would make a benefi- 
cial mixture of manners, and render our union more 
complete. Lord Chief Baron Orde was on good terms 
with us all, in a narrow country filled with jarring inte- 
rests and keen parties ; and though I well knew his 



m JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

opinion to be the same with my ownj he kept himself 
aloof at a very critical period indeed, when tlie Douglas 
cause shook the sacred security of birth-rischt in Scot- 
land to its foundation ; a cause, which had it happened 
before the Union, when there was no appeal to a British 
House of Lords, would have left the great fortress of 
honours and of property in ruins. 

When we got home. Dr. Johnson desired to see my 
books. He took dov/n Ogden's Sermons on Prayer, 
on which I set a very high value, having been much 
edified by them, and he retired with them to his room. 
He did not stay long, but soon joined us in the drawing- 
room. I presented to him Mr. Robert Arbuthnot, a rela- 
tion of the celebrated Dr. Arbuthnot, and a man of li- 
terature and taste. To him we were obliged for a pre- 
vious recommendation, which secured us a very agree- 
able reception at St. Andrews, and which Dr. John- 
son, in his " Journey," ascribes to " some invisible 
£riend." 

Of Dr. Beattie, Mr. Johnson said, " Sir, he has 
written like a man conscious of the truth, and feeling 
his own strength. Treating j^our adversary with res- 
pect, is giving him an advantage to which he -is not en- 
titled. The greatest part of men cannot judge of rea- 
soning, and are impresssed by character; so that, if 
you allow your adversary a respectable character, they 
will think, that though you differ from him, you may 
be in the wrong. Sir, treating your adversary with 
respect, is striking soft in a battle. And as to Hume, 
— a man who has so much conceit as to tell all man- 
kind that they have been bubbled for ages, and he is 
the wise man who sees better than they, — a man who 
has so little scrupulosity as to venture to oppose those 
principles which have been thought necessary to human 



TO THE HEBRIDES, 17 

happiness, — is he to be surprised if another man comeS 
and laughs at him ? If he is the great man he thinks 
himself, all this cannot hurt him : it is like throwing 
peas against a rock." He added " something much too 
roughs'''' both as to Mr. Hume's head and heart, which 
I suppress. Violence is, in my opinion, not suitable to 
the Christian cause. Besides, I always lived on good 
terms with Mr. Hume, though I have frankly told him 
I was not clear that it was right in me to keep company 
with him. " But (said I) how much better are you 
than your books !" He was cheerful, obliging, and 
instructive ; he was charitable to the poor ; and many 
an agreeable hour have I passed with him. I have pre- 
serving some entertaining and interesting memoirs of 
him, particularly when he knew himself to be dying, 
which I may some time or other communicate to the 
world. I shall not, however extol him so very highly 
as Dr. Adam Smith does, who says, in a letter to Mr, 
Strahan the Printer (not a confidential letter to his 
friend, but a letter which is published* with all forma- 
lity) : " Upon the whole, I have always considered him, 
" both in his life time, and since his death, as approach- 

• This letter, though shattered by the sharp shot of Dr. Home of Oxford'' s 
wit, in the character of *' One of the People called Christians," is still prefixed 
to Mr. Hume's excellent History of England, like a poor invalid on the piquet 
guard, or like a list of quack medicines sold by the same bookseller, by whom a 
work of whatever nature is published .- for it has no connection with his History 
let it have what it may with what are called his Philosophical Works. A wor- 
thy friend of mine in London, was lately consulted by a lady of quality, of most 
distinguished merit, what was the best History of England for her son to read. My 
friend recommended Hume's. But, upon recollecting that its usher was a super- 
lative panegyrick on one, who endeavoured to sap the credit of our holy religion, 
he revoked his recommendation. I am really sorry for this ostentatious alliance ; 
because I admire "The Theory of Moral sentiments," and value the greatest 
part of " An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations." 
Why should such a writer be so forgetful of human comfort, as to give any conn- 
-tenance to that dreary infidelity which would " make us poor indeed !" 

B 



M JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

" ing as nearly to the idea of a perfectly wise and vir^ 
" tuous man as perhaps the nature of human frailty will 
"permit." Let Dr. Smith consider: Was not Mr, 
Hume blest with good health, good spirits, good 
friends, a competent and increasing fortune? And 
had he not also a perpetual feast of fame ? But, as a 
learned friend has observed to me, " What trials did 
he undergo, to prove the perfection of his virtue ? Did 
he ever experience any great instance of adversity ?" 
■ — When I read this sentence, delivered by my old 
Professor of Moral Philosophy, I could not help ex- 
claiming with the Psalmist, " Surely I have now more 
''understanding than my teachers !" 

While we were talking, there came a note to me 
from Dr. William Robertson^ 

Dear Sir, 
" I have been expecting every day to hear from you, 
*' of Dr. Johnson's arrival. Pray, what do you know 
" about his motions ? I long to take him by the hand, 
" I write this from the college, where I have only this 
^' scrap of paper. Ever yours, ' 

Sunday. W. R." 

It pleased me to find Dr. Robertson thus eager to 
meet Dr. Johnson. I was glad I could answer, that he 
was come : and I begged Dr. Robertson might be with 
us as soon as he could. 

Sir William Forbes, Mr. Scott, Mr. Arbuthnoty 
and another gentleman dined with us. " Gome, Dr. 
Johnson, (said I) it is commonly thought that our veal 
in Scotland is not good. But here is some which I be- 
lieve you will like." — There was no catching him.— 
Johnson. " Why, sir, what is commonly thought, I 
should take to be true. Your veal may be good ; but 



TO THE HEBRIDES. IS 

that will only be an exception to the general opinion ; 
not a proof against it." 

Dr. Robertson, according to the custom of Edin- 
burgh at that time, dined in the interval between the 
forenoon and afternoon service, which was then later 
than now ; so we had not the pleasure of his company 
till dinner was over, when he came and drank wine with 
us. And then began some animated dialogue, of 
which here follows a pretty full note. 

We talked of Mr. Burke. — Dr. Johnson said, he 
had great variety of knowledge, store of imagery, co- 
piousness of language. — Robertson, " He has wit 
too." — Johnson. " No, sir ; he never succeeds there, 
'Tis low ; 'tis conceit. I used to say, Burke never once 
made a good joke.* What I most envy Burke for. 

* This was one of the points upon which Dr. Johnson wa-^ strangely hetero- 
dox. For, surely, Mr. Burke, with his other remarkable qualities, is also dis- 
tinguished for his wit, and for wit of all kinds too ; not merely that power ol' 
language whicli Pope chooses to denominate wit, 

(True wit is Nature to advantage drest ; 

What oft was thought, but ne'er so well exprest.) 

but surpiising allusions, brilliant sallies of vivacity, and pleasant conceits. His 
speeches in parliament are strewed with them. Take, for intance, the variety 
which he has given in his wide range, yet exact detail, when exhibiting his Re- 
form Bill. And his conversation abounds in wit. Let me put down a specimen 
-^I told him, I had seen, at a Blue Stocking assembly, a number of ladies sitting 
round a worthy and tall friend of ours, listening to his literature. " Ay, (said he) 
like maids round a May -pole," — I told him, 1 had found out a perfect definition 
of human nature, as distinguished from the animal. An ancient philosopher 
said, Man was "a two-legged animal without feathers," upon which his rival 
Sage had a Cock plucked bare, and set liiin down in the school before all the 
disciples, as a " Philosophick Man." Dr. Franklin st^id, Man was "a tool- 
making animal," which is very well ; for, no animal but man makes a thing, 
by means of which he can make another thing. But this applies to very few of 
the species. My definition of il^fan is, "a Cooking Animal." The beasts have 
memory, judgment, and all the faculties and passions of our mind, in a certain 
degree : but no beast is a cook. The trick of the monkey using the cat's paw, 
to roast a chesnut, is only a piece of shrewd malice in th.at turbixiima bestla. 



• 



20 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

is, his being constantly the same. He is never what 
we call hum^drum ; never unwilling to begin to talk^ 

which humbles us so sadly by its similarity to us. Man alone can dress a good 
dish ; and every man whatever is more or less a cook, in seasoning what he him- 
self eats.-^Your definition is good, said Mr. Burke, and I now see the full force 
of the common proverb, " There is reason in roasting of eggs." — When Mr. 
Wilkes, in his days of tumultuous opposition, was borne upon the shoulders of 
the mob, Mr. Burke (as Mr. Wilkes told me himself, with classical admiration) 
«ippliejd to him what Horace says of Pindar, 

— numerisc^e, fertur 

Lege solutis. 

Sir Joshua Reynolds, who agrees with me entirely as to Mr. Burke's fertility 
of wit, said, that this was " dignifying a pun." He also observed, that he has 
often heard Burke say, in the course of an evening, ten good things, each of 
which would have served a noted wit (whom he named) to live upon for a twelve- 
montii. 

I iind, since the former edition, that some persons have objected to the in- 
stances which I have given of Mr. Burke's wit, as not doing justice to my very 
ingenious friend ; the specimens produced having, it is alledged, more of conceit 
than real wit, and being merely sportive sallies of the moment, not justifying the 
encomium which they think with me, he undoubtedly merits. I was well aware 
how hazardous it was to exhibit particular instances of wit, which is of so airy 
and spiritual a nature as often to elude the hand that attempts to grasp it. The 
excellence and efficacy of a bon mot depend frequently so much on the occasion 
on which it is spoken, on the peculiar manner of the speaker, on the person to 
whom it is applied, the previous introduction, and a thousand minute particulars 
which cannot be easily enumerated, thc^t it is always dangerous to detach a witty 
saying from the group to which it belongs, and to set it before the eye of the 
spectator, divested of those concomitant circumstances, which gave it animation^ 
mellowness, and relief. I ventured, however, at all hazards, to put down the 
first instances that occurred to me, as proofs of Mr, Burke's lively and brilliant 
fancy ; but am very sensible that his numerous friends could have suggested many 
of a superior quality. Indeed, the being in company with him, for a single day 
is sufficient to shew that what I have asserted is well founded ; and it was only 
necessary to have appealed to all who know him intimately, for a complete refu- 
tation of the heterodox opinion entertained by Dr. Johnson on this subject. He 
allowed Mr. Burke, as the reader will find hereafter, to be a ma.;! of consummate 
and unrivalled abilities in every light except that now under consideration ; and 
the variety of his allusions, and splendour of his imagery, have made such an im- 
pression on all the ^sst of the world, that superficial obsei-vers are apt to over- 
look his other merits, and to suppose that luit is his chief and ntiost prominent exi 
cellence ; when in fact it is only one of the inany talents that he possesses, which 
are so various arid extraordinary, that it is very difficult to ascertain precisely the 
rank and value of each. 



#^' 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 21 

nor in a haste to leave off." — Boswell. " Yet he can 
listen." — Johnson. " No ; I cannot say he is good at 
that. So desirous is he to talk, that, if one is speaking 
at this end of the table, he'll speak to somebody at the 
other end. Burke, sir, is such a man, that if you met 
him for the first time in a street where you were stop- 
ped by a drove of oxen, and you and he stepped aside 
to take shelter but for five minutes, he'd talk to you in 
such a manner, that, when you parted, you would say, 
this is an extraordinary man. Now, you may be long 
enough with me, without finding any thing extraordi- 
nary." He said, he believed Burke was intended for 
the law ; but either had not money enough to follow it, 
or had not diligence enough. He said, he could not 
understand how a man could apply to one thing, and 
not to another. Robertson said, one man had more 
judgment, another more imagination. — Johnson. " No 
sir ; it is only, one man has more mind than another. 
He may direct it differently ; he may, by accident, see 
the success of one kind of study, and take a desire to 
excel in it. I am persuaded that, had Sir Isaac New- 
ton applied to poetry, he would have made a very fine 
epick poem. I could as easily apply to law as to tra- 
gick poetry." — BoswelL *' Yet, sir, you did apply to 
tragick poetry, not to law." — Johnson. " Because, sir, 
I had not money to study law. Sir, the man who has 
vigour, may walk to the east, just as well as to the west, 
if he happens to turn his head that way." — BoswelL 
*' But, sir, 'tis like walking up and down a hill ; one 
man will naturally do the one better than the other. A 
hare will run up a hill best, from her fore-legs being 
short ; a dog down." — Johnson. " Nay, sir ; that is 
from mechanical powers. If you make mind mechani- 
cal, you may argue in that manner. One mind is a 



2^ JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

"'^ice, and holds fast ; there's a good memory. Another 
is a file ; and he is a disputant, a controversialist. Ano- 
ther is a razor ; and he is sarcastical." — We talked 
of Whitefield. He said, he was at the same college 
with him, and knew him before he began to be better 
than other people (smiling) ; that he believed he sin- 
cerely meant well, but had a mixture of politicks and 
ostentation ; whereas Wesley thought of religion only.* 
- — Robertson said, Whitefield had strong natural elo- 
quence, which, if cultivated, would have done great 
things. — Johnson. " Why, sir, I take it, he was at the 
height of what his abilities could do, and was sensible of 
it. He had the ordinary advantages of education ; but 
he chose to pursue that oratory which is for the mob." 
— Boswell. " He had great effect on the passions." 
— Johnson. " Why sir, I don't think so. He could 
not represent a succession of pathetick images. He 
vociferated, and made an impression. There, again, 
was a mind like a hammer." — Dr. Johnson now said, a 
certain eminent political friend of our's was wrong, in 
his maxim of sticking to a certain set of men on all oc- 
casions. " I can see that a man may do right to stick to 
a party (said he) ; that is to say, he is a Whig, or he is a 
Tory, and he thinks one of those parties upon the v/hole 
the best, and that to make it prevail, it must be gene- 
rally supported, though, in particulars, it may be wrong. 

* That cannot be said now, after the flagrant part which Mr. jfohn Wesley, 
took against our American brethren, when, in his own name, he threw amongst 
his enthusiastick flock, the very individual combustibles of Dr. ^ohnsoti's " Taxa' 
tjon no Tyranny ;" and after the intolerant spirit which he inanifested against 
our fellow -christians of the Roman Catholick Communion, for which that ^ble 
champion Father O'Learj, has given him so hearty a drubbing. But- 1 should 
think myself very unworthy, if I did not at the same time acknowledge Mr. 
John Wesley's merit, as a veteran "Soldier of Jesus Christ," who has, 1 do be- 
lieve "turned many from darkness into light, and from the power oi Satan to the 
living God," 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 23 

He takes its faggot of principles, in which there are 
fewer rotten sticks than in the other, though some rot- 
ten sticks to be sure ; and they cannot well be separat- 
ed. But, to bind one's self to one man, or one set of 
men, (who may be right to-day and wrong to-morrow,) 
without any general preference of system, I must disap- 
prove."* 

He told us of Cooke, who translated Hesiod, and 
lived twenty years, on a translation of Plautus, for 
which he was always taking subscriptions ; and that he 
presented Foote to a Club, in the following singular 
manner : " This is the nephew of the gentleman who 
was lately hung in chains for murdering his brother." 



* If due attention were paid to this observation, there would be more virtue, 
even in Politicks. What Dr. Johnson justly condemned, has, I am sorry to say, 
greatly increased in the present reign. At the distance of four years from this 
conversation, 21st of February 1777, My Lord Archbishop of York, in his " Ser- 
mon before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," 
thus indignantly describes the then state of parties : 

** Parties once had a principle belonging to them, absurd perhaps, and inde- 
*• fensible, but still carrying a notion of duty, by which honest minds might easi- 
" ly be caught. 

" But they are now covibihatlons of individuals, who, instead of being the sons 
*' and servants of the connmiinity, make a league for advancing their private in- 
" terests. It is their business to hold high the notion o£ political honour. I believe 
♦• and trust, it is not injurious to say, that such a bond is no better than that b}'' 
" which the lowest and wickedest combinations are held together ; and that it 
" denotes the last stage of political depravity." 

To find a thought, which just shewed itself to us from the mind of Johnson 
thus appearing again at such a distance of time, and without any communication, 
between them, enlarged to full growth in the mind of Markham, is a curious ob- 
ject of philosophical contemplation. — That two such great and luminous minds 
should have been so dark in one corner, — that they should have held it to be 
" wicked Rebellion" in the British subjects established in America, to resist the 
abject condition of holding all their property at the mercy of British subjects 
remaining at home, while their allegiance to our common Lord the King was to 
be preserved inviolate, — is a striking proof to me, either that " He who sitteth in 
Heaven," scorns the loftiness of Human pride, — or that the evil spirit, whose 
{personal existence I strongly believe, and even in this age am confirmed in that 
belief by a Fell, nay, by a Hurd, has more power than some choose to allow. 



24 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

In the evening I introduced to Mr. Johnson* two 
good friends of mine, Mr. WilUam Nairne, AdvocatCj 
and Mr. Hamilton of Smidrum, my neighbour in the 
country, both of whom supped with us. I have pre-^ 
served nothing of what passed, except that Dr. John- 
son displayed another of his heterodox opinions, — a 
contempt of tragick acting. He said, " the action of 
all players in tragedy is bad. It should be a man's 
study to repress tliose signs of emotion and passion, as 
they are called." He was of a directly contrary opinion 
to that of Fielding, in his Tom Jones ; who makes Par- 
tridge say, of Garrick, " why, I could act as well as he 
" myself. I am sure, if I had seen a ghost, I should 
" have looked in the very same manner, and done just 
" as he did." For, when I asked him, *' Would not 
you, sir, start as Mr. Garrick does, if you saw a ghost?" 
He answered, " I hope not. If I did, I should frighten 
the ghost." 

Monday J 16 th August. 

Dr. William Robertson came to breakfast. We 
talked of Ogden on Prayer. Dr. Johnson said, " The 
same arguments which are used against God's hearing 
prayer, will serve against his rewarding good and pu- 
nishing evil. He has resolved, he has declared, in the 
former case as in the latter." He had last night look- 
ed into Lord Hailes's " Remarks on the History of 
Scotland." Dr. Robertson and I said, it was a pity 

* It may be observed, that I sometimes call my great friend, Mr. Johnson, 
sometimes Dr. Johnson ; though he had at this time a doctor's degree from 
Trinity College, Dublin. The University of Oxford afterwards conferred itupon 
him by a diploma, in very honourable terms. It was some time before I could 
bring myself to call him Doctor ; but, as he has been long known by that title, I 
shall give it to him in the rest of this Journal 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 25 

Lord Hailes did not write greater things. His lordship 
had not then pubhshed his " Annals of Scotland." — 
Johnson. " I remember I was once on a visit at the 
house of a lady for whom I had a high respect. Therq 
was a good deal of company in the room. When they 
were gone, I said to this lady, * What foolish talking 
have we had !' — ' Yes, (said she,) but while they talk- 
ed, you said nothing.' — I was struck widi the reproof. 
How much better is the man who does any thing that 
is innocent, than he who does nothing. Besides, I love 
anecdotes. I fancy mankind may come, in time, to 
write all aphoristically, except in narrative ; grow weary 
of preparation, and connection, and illustration, and all 
those arts by which a big book is made. If a man is 
to wait till he weaves anecdotes into a system, we may 
be long in getting them, and get but few, in comparison 
of what we might get." 

Dr. Robertson said, the notions or Eupham Macal- 
lan, a fana\ick woman, of whom Lord Hailes gives a 
sketch, wert still prevalent among some of the Presby- 
terians ; and therefore it was right in Lord Hailes, a 
man pf known piety, to undeceive them. 

We walked out, that Dr. Johnson might see some 
of tl^ tWgs which we have to shew at Edinburgh. We 
went -^^o xjie Parliament-house, where the Parliament of 
Scotland &^t, and where the Ordinary Lords of Session 
hold th?ir courts ; and to the New Session-House ad- 
joining to it, Inhere ouv Court of Fifteen (the fourteen 
Ordinaries, with the Lora President at their head) sit as 
a Court of Review. We \ient to the Advocates' Libra- 
ry, of which Dr. Johnson tooi a cursory view, and then 
to what is called the Laigh {i^ under) Parliament- 
House, where the records of Scotland, which has an 
universal security by register are deposited, till the great 



26 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

Register Office be finished. I was pleased to behold 
Dr. Samuel Johnson roHing about in this old magazine 
of antiquities. There was, by this time, a pretty nume- 
rous circle of us attending upon him. Somebody talk- 
ed (if happy moments for composition ; and how a man 
cah write at one time, and not at another.- — " Nay (said 
Dr. Johnson) a man may write at any time, if he will set 
himself doggedly to it." 

1 here began to indulge old Scottish sentiments, and 
to express a warm regret, that, by our Union witli Eng- 
landj we were no more; — our independent kingdom was 
lost. — Johnson. " Sir, never talk of your independency, 
who could let your Queen remain twenty years in cap- 
tivity, and then be put to death, without even a pretehce 
of justice, without your ever attempting to rescue^ her; 
and such a queen too ! as every man of any gallehtry of 
spirit would have sacrificed his life for." — Wo/thy Mr. 
James Kerr, Keeper of the Records. " Half /)ur nation 
was bribed by English money." — Johnson. /" Sir, that 
is no defence : that makes you worse. "-/-Good 3fr..' 
Brown Keeper of the Advocates' Library. " We had 
better say nothing about it." — Boswell. " Yqu wou/d 
have been glad to have had us last war, sir, to fight ypur 
battles ! " — Johnson. " We should have had you fo/the 
same price, though there had been no Union, as we 
might have had Swiss, or other troops. No, no,/l shall 
agree to a separation. You have on?y to go home i ' Just 
as he had said this, I, to divert t^e subject, she^i^ed him 
the signed assurances of the 0ree successive Kings of 
the Hanover family, to mai«tain the Presbyterian esta- 
blishment in Scotland. — ^' We'll give you that (said he) 
into the bargain." 

We next we^t to the great church of St. Giles, 
which has lost its original magnificence in the inside, by 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 2.7 

being divided into four pl^^es of Presbyterian worship. 
*' Come, (said Dr. Johnson jocularly to Principal Ro- 
bertson,*) let me see what was once a chui^ch !" We 
entered that division which was formerly called the New 
Churchy and of late the High Church, so well known by 
the eloquence of Dr. Hugh Blair. It is now very ele- 
gantly fitted up ; but it was then shamefully dirty. Dr. 
Johnson said nothing at the time; but when we came 
to the great door of the Royal Infirmary, where, upon a 
hoard, was this inscription, *' Clean your feet P"* he 
turned about slyly, and said, '' There is no occasion for 
putting this at the doors of your churches !" 

We then conducted him down the Post-house stairs. 
Parliament- close, and made him look up from the Cow- 
gate to the highest building in Edinburgh (from which 
he had just descended,) being thirteen floors or stories 
from the ground upon the back elevation ; the front wall 
being built upon the edge of the hill, and the back wall 
rising from the bottom of the hill several stories before 
it comes to a level with the front wall. We proceeded 
to the College, with the principal at our head. Dr. 
Adam Ferguson, whose " Essay on the History of civil 
Society" gives him a respectable place in the ranks of 
literature, was with us. As the College buildings are 
indeed very mean, the principal said to Dr. Johnson, that 
he must give them the same epithet that a Jesuit did 
when shewing a poor college abroad: '■'■ Hce miserice nos- 
trce.''\ Dr. Johnson was, however, much pleased with 
the library, and with the conversation of Dr. James Ro- 
bertson, Professor of Oriental Languages, the Librarian. 

* I have hitherto called him Dr. William Robertson, to distinguish him from 
Dr. James Robertson, who is soon to make his appearance. But principal, from 
his being the head of our college, is his usual designation, and is shorter ; so 1 shall 
use it hereafter. 



28 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

We talked of Kennicot's Gdition of the Hebrew Bible, 
and hoped it would be quite faithful. — Joh?ison. " Siry 
I know not any crime so great that a man could con- 
trive to commit, as poisoning the sources of eternal 
truth." 

I pointed out to him where there formerly stood aa 
old wall enclosing part of the college, which I remem- 
ber bulged out in a threatening manner, and of which 
there was a common saying, as of Bacon'' s study at Ox- 
ford, that it would fall upon the most learned man. It 
had some time before this been taken down, that the 
street might be widened, and a more convenient wall 
built. Dr. Johnson, glad of an opportunity to have a 
pleasant hit at Scottish learning, said, *' they have been 
afraid it never would fall." 

We shewed him the Royal Infirmary, for which, and 
for every other exertion of generous public spirit in his 
power, that noble-minded citizen of Edinburgh, George 
Drummond, Avill be ever held in honourable remem- 
brance. And we were too proud not to carry him to 
the Abbey of Holyrood-house, that beautiful piece of 
architecture, but, alas \ that deserted mansion of royal- 
ty, which Hamilton of Bangour, in one of his elegant 
poems, calls 

" A virtuous palace, where no monai'ch dwells." 

I was much entertained while Principal Robertson 
fluently harangued to Dr. Johnson upon the spot, con- 
cerning scenes of his celebrated History of Scotland. 
We surveyed that part of the palace appropriated to the 
Duke of Hamilton, as Keeper, in which our beautiful 
Queen Mary lived, and in which David Rizzio was mur- 
dered ; and also the State Rooms. Dr. Johnson was a 
great reciter of all sorts of things serious or comical. I 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 29 

overheard him repeating here, in a kind of muttering 
tone, a line of the old ballad, Johnny Armstrong's Last 
Goodnight: 

" And ran him through the fair body !"* 

I suppose his thinking of the stabbing of Rizzio had 
brought this into his mind by association of ideas. 

We returned to my house, where there met him, at 
dinner, the Duchess of Douglas, Sir Adolphus Ough- 
ton. Lord Chief Baron, Sir William Forbes, Principal 
Robertson, Mr. Cullen, advocate. Before dinner he 
told us of a curious conversation between the famous 
Cjeorge Faulkner and him. George said that England 
had drained Ireland of fifty thousand pounds in specie, 
annually, for fifty years. " How so, sir ! (said Dr. John- 
son,) you must have a very great trade ?" " No trade." 
— " Very rich mines?" "No mines." — "From whence 
then, does all this money come?" " Come ! why out 
of the blood and bowels of the poor people of Ireland !" 

He seemed to me to have an unaccountable preju- 
dice against Swift ; for I once took the liberty to ask 
him, if Swift had personally offended him, and he told 
me he had not. He said to day, " Swift is clear, but 
he is shallow. In coarse humour he is inferiour to Ar- 
buthnot ; in delicate humour, he is inferiour to Addison : 
So he is inferiour to his contemporaries ; without put- 
ting him against the whole world. I doubt if the " Tale 
of a Tub" was his ; it has so much more thinking, more 
knowledge, more power, more colour, than any of the 

* The stanza from which he took this line is, 

" But then rose up all Edinburgh, 

" They rose up by thousands three ; if^ 

'■ A cowardly Scot came John behind, 
" And ran him through the fair bod)' !'" 






30 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

works which arc indisputably his. If it was his, I shall 
only say, he was impar sibi.''^ 

We gave him as good a dinner as we could. Our 
Scotch muir-fowl, or growse, were then abundant, and 
quite in season ; and so far as wisdom and wit can be 
aided by administering agreeable sensations to the pa 
late, my wife took care that our great guest should not 
be deficient. 

Sir Adolphus Oughton, then our Deputy Com- 
mander in Chief, who was not only an excellent officer, 
but one of the most universal scholars I ever knew, had 
learned the Erse language, and expressed his belief in 
the authenticity of Ossian's Poetry. Dr. Johnson took 
the opposite side of that perplexed question ; and I was 
afraid the dispute would have run high between them. 
But sir Adolphus who had a very sweet temper, changed 
the discourse, grew playful, laughed at Lord Monbod- 
do's notion of men having tails, and called him a Judge 
a posteriori^ which amused Dr. Johnson, and thus hos- 
tilities were prevented. 

At supper we had Dr. Cullen, his son the advo- 
cate. Dr. Adam Ferguson, and Mr. Crosbie, advocate. 
Witchcraft was introduced. Mr. Crosbie said, he 
thought it the greatest blasphemy to suppose evil 
spirits counteracting the Deity, and raising storms, for 
instance, to destroy his creatures. — Johnson. " Why, 
sir, if moral evil be consistent with the government of 
the Deity, why may not physical evil be also consistent 
with it? It is not more strange that there should be 
evil spirits, then evil men : evil unembodied spirits, 
than evil embodied spirits. And as to storms, we 
know there are such things ; and it is no worse that 
evil«s^irits raise them, than that they rise." — Crosbie, 
^' But it is not credible, that witches should have effect- 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 31 

ed what they are said m stories to have done." — John- 
son. " Sir, I am not defending their credibility. I am. 
only saying, that your arguments are not good, and will 
not overturn the belief of witchcraft. — (Dr. Ferguson 
said to me, aside, ' He is right,') — And then, sir, you 
have all mankind, rude and civilized, agreeing in the 
belief of the agency of preternatural powers. You 
must take evidence : you must consider, that wise and 
great men have condemned witches to die." — Crosbie. 
"But an act of parliament put an end to witchcraft." 
— Johnson. " No, sir ; witchcraft had ceased ; and 
therefore an act of parliament was passed to prevent 
persecution for what was not witchcraft. Why it 
ceased, we cannot tell, as we cannot tell the reason of 
many other things." — Dr. Cullen, to keep up the gra- 
tification of mysteriou,s disquisition, with the grave ad- 
dress for which he is remarkable in his companionable 
as in his professional hours, talked, in a very entertain- 
ing manner, of people walking and conversing in their 
sleep. I am very sorry I have no note of this. We 
talked of the Quran- Outang, and of Lord Monboddo's 
thinking that he might be taught to speak. Dr. John- 
son treated this with ridicule. Mr. Crosbie said, that 
Lord Monboddo believed the existence of every thing 
possible ; in short, that all which is m posse might be 
foUnd in esse. — Johnson. " But, sir, it is as possible 
thi|t the Ouran-Outang does not speak, as that he speaks. 
Hdwever, I shall not contest the point. I should have 
thought it not possible to find a Monboddo; yet he 
?xis\s." — I again mentioned the stage. — Johnson. "The 
a^pearanc^ of a player, with whom I have drank tea, 
jjomteracts tlWiiu.^Qation that he is the character he 
*^presents. Nay, >^ kx^^,, nobody imagines that he 
is tnc o^racter he represents. ^.,,^^, ^^^^ , g^^ ^^^, 



52 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

rick ! how he looks to-night ! See how he'll clutch the 
dagger !' That is the buz of the theatre." 

Tuesday 11 th August. 

Sir William Forbes came to breakfast, and brought 
with him Dr. Blacklock, whom he mtroduced to Dr. 
Johnson, who received him with a most humane com- 
placency ; "Dear Dr. Blacklock, I am glad to see 
you !" — Blacklock seemed to be much surprized, 
when Dr. Johnson said, " it was easier to him to write 
poetry than to compose his Dictionary. His mind was 
less on the stretch in doing the one than the other. 
Besides ; composing a Dictionary requires books and 
a desk : you can make a poem walking in the fields, 
or lying in bed."— Dr. Blacklock spoke of scepticism 
in morals and religion, with apparent uneasiness, as ii 
he wished for more certainty. Dr. Johnson, who had 
thought it all over, and whose vigorous understanding 
was fortified by much experience, dius encouraged the 
blind Bard to apply to higher speculations what we all 
willingly submit to in common life ; in short, he gave 
him more familiarly the able and fair reasoning of But- 
ler's Analogy: "Why, sir, the greatest concern we 
have in this world, the choice of our profession, must 
be determined without demonstrative reasoning. Hu- 
man life is not yet so well known, as that we can have 
it. And take the case of a man who is ill. I call two 
physicians : they differ in opinion. I am not to lie 
down, and die between them: I must do something.' 
— The conversation then turned on Atliej^^ ; on tl^t 
horrible book, Systeme de la Natv^^'i """^ on the si/p- 
position of an eternal nece--^^"' without design, wi^^-^- 
out a governing mip>^ -Johnson. " If it we- so, why 



^' 



TO THE HEBRIDES. - 33 



has it ceased? Why don't we see men thus produced 
around us now ? Why, at least, does it not keep pace, 
in some measure, with the progress of time ? If it stops 
because there is now no need of it, then it is plain there 
is, and ever has been, an all-powerful intelligence. But 
stay ! (said he, with one of his satyrick laughs.) Ha 1 
ha ! ha ! I shall suppose Scotchmen made necessarily, 
and Englishmen by choice." 

At dinner this day, we had Sir Alexander Dick, 
whose amiable character, and ingenious and cultivated 
mind, are so generally kno\vn ; (he was then* on the 
\ erge of seventy, and is now eighty-one, with his facul- 
ties entire, his heart warm, and his temper gay ;) Sir 
David Dairy mple Lord Hailes ; Mr. Maclaurin, advo- 
cate ; Dr. Gregory, who now vi^orthily fills his father's 
medical chair ; and my uncle, Dr. Boswell. This was 
one of Dr. Johnson's best days. He was quite in his 
element. All was literature and taste, without any in- 
terruption. Lord Hailes, who is one of the best philo- 
logists in Great-Britain, who has written papers in the 
Worlds and a variety of other works in prose and in 
verse, both Latin and English, pleased him highly. He 
told him, he had discovered the Life of Cheynel, in the 
Student, to be his. — Johnson. " No one else knows it." 
— Dr. Johnson had, before this, dictated to me a law- 
paper, upon a question purely in the law of Scotland, 
concerning vicious intromission^ that is to say, intermed- 
dling with the effects of a deceased person, without a 
regular title : which formerly was understood to subject 
the intermeddler to payment of all th® defunct's debts. 
The principle has of late been relaxed. Dr. Johnson's 
argument was, for a renewal of its strictness. The pa- 

■ * In 1773. 



^■ 



34 JOURNAL OF li TOUR 

per was printed, with additions b)^ me, and given into 
the Court of Session. Lord Hailes knew Dr. Johnson's 
part not to be mine, and pointed out exactly where it 
began, and where it ended. Dr. Johnson said, " It is 
much, now, that his lordship can distinguish so." 

In Dr. Johnson's Vanity of Human Wishes, there 
is, the following passage : 

*' The teeming mother, anxious for her race, 

" Begs for each birth, the fortune of a face : 

" Yet Vane could tell, what ills from beauty spring; 

"And Sedlcy curs'd the charms which pleas'd a king." 

Lord Hailes told him, he w^as mistaken in the in- 
stances he had given of unfortunate fair ones ; for nei- 
ther Vane nor Sedley had a title to that description. 
His Lordship has since been so obliging as to send me 
a note of this, for the communication of which I am 
sure my readers will thank me. 

" The lines in the tenth Satire of Juvenal, accord- 
" ing to my alteration, should have run thus : 



« Yet Shore* could tell- 
" And Valiere\ curs'd— 



" The first was a penitent by compulsion, the se- 
" cond by sentiment ; though the truth is, Mademoi- 
" selle de la Valiere threw herself (but still from senti- 
" ment) in the King's way. 

" Our friend chose Vane, who was far from being 
" well-looked \ and Sedley, who was so ugl}^, that 
" Charles II, said, his brother had her by way of pe- 
f* nance." 

* Mistress of Edward IV. f I^istress of Louis XIV. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 35 

Mr. Maclaurin's learning and talents enabled him to 
do his part very well in Dr. Johnson's company. He 
produced two epitaphs upon his father, the celebrated 
mathematician. One was in English, of which Dr. John- 
son did not change one word. In the other which was 
in Latin, he made several alterations. In place of the 
very words of Virgil^ " Ubi luctus et pavor et plurima 
mortis imago.,'''' he wrote, " Ubi luctus regnant etpavory 
He introduced the word prorsus into the line '■'■Mortali- 
bus prorsus non absit solatium.,'''' and after " Hujus enim 
scripta evolve., he added, " Mentemque tantarum rerum 
capacem corpori cadiico superstitem crede ;'''' which is 
quite applicable to Dr. Johnson himself. 

Mr. Murray, advocate, who married a niece of lord 
Mansfield's, and is now one of the judges of Scotland, 
by the title of Lord Henderland, sat with us a part of the 
evening ; but did not venture to say any thing, that I 
I remember, which he certainly might have done, had 
not an over-anxiety prevented him. 

At supper we had Dr. Alexander Webster, who 
though not learned, had such a knowledge of mankind, 
such a fund of information and entertainment, so clear 
a heaa and such accommodating manners, that Dr. John- 
son found him a very agreeable companion. 

When Dr. Johnson and I were left by ourselves, I 
read to him my notes of the Opinions of our Judges 
upon the Question of Literary Property. He did not 
like them ; and said, " they make me think of your 
Judges not with that respect which I should wish to 
do." To the argument of one of them, that there can 
I^e no property in blasphemy or nonsense, he answered, 
•' then your rotten sheep are mine ! — By that rule when 
a man's house falls into decav, he must lose it." — I 



36 JOURNAL OF A TOUR' 

mentioned an argument of mine, that literary perform- 
ances ar€ not taxed. As Churchill says, 

'^ No statesman yet has thought it worth his pains 
" To tax our labours, or excise our brains ;" 

and therefore they are not property. — " Yet (said he,) 
we hang a man for steahng a horse, and horses are not 
taxed." — Mr. Pitt has since put an end to that argu- 
ment. 

Wednesday^ 18th August, 

On this day we set out from Edinburgh. We should 
gladly have had Mr. Scott to go with us ; but he waS 
obliged to return to England. — I have given a sketch 
of Dr. Johnson : my readers may wish to know a little 
of his feliow-traveller. Think, then, of a gentleman of 
ancient biood, the pride of which was his predominant 
passion. He was then in his thirty-third year, and had 
been about four years happily married, ttis inclination 
was to be a soldier ; but his father, a respectable Judge, 
had pressed him into the profession of the law. He had 
travelled a good deal, and seen many varieties of hu- 
man life. He had thought more than any body sup- 
posed, and had a pretty good stock of general learning 
and knowledge. Ho had ail Dr. Johnson's principles, 
with some degree of relaxation. He had rather too 
little than too much prudence ; and, his imagination 
being lively, he often said things of which the effect was 
very different from the intention. He resembled some- 
times 

" The best good man, with the worst natur'd muse." 
He cannot deny himself the vanity of finishing with the 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 37 

encomium of Dr. Johnson, whose friendly partiality to 
the companion of his Tour represents him as one, 
" whose acuteness would help my inquiry, and whose 
gaiety of conversation, and civility of manners, are suf- 
ficient to counteract the inconveniencies of travel, in 
countries less hospitable than we have passed." 

Dr. Johnson thought it unnecessary to put himself 
to the additional expense of bringing with him Francis 
Barber his faithful black servant ; so we were attended 
only by my man, 'Joseph Ritter, a Bohemian; a fine 
stately fellow above six feet high, who had been over a 
great part of Europe, and spoke many languages. He 
was the best servant I ever saw. Let not my readers 
disdain his introduction ! For Dr. Johnson gave him 
this character: " Sir, he is a civil man, and a wise man." 

From an erroneous apprehension of violence. Dr. 
Johnson had provided a pair of pistols, some gunpow- 
der, and a quantity of bullets : but upon being assured 
we should run no risk of meeting any robbers, he left 
his arms and ammunition in an open drawer, of which 
he gave my wife the charge. He also left in that drawer 
one volume of a pretty full and curious Diary of his 
Life, of which I have a few fragments ; but the book 
has been destroyed. I wish female curiosity had been 
strong enough to have had it all transcribed, which might 
easily have been done; and I should think the theft, 
being j6ro bono publico^ might have been forgiven. But 
I may be wrong. My wife told me she never once look- 
ed into it. — She did not seem quite easy when we left 
her ; but away we went ! 

Mr. Nairne, advocate, was to go with us as far as 
St. Andrews. It gives me pleasure that, by mention- 
ing his name, I connect his title to the just and hand- 
some compliment paid him by Dr. Johnson, in his 



• 



38 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

book : "A gentleman who could stay with us only long 
enough to make us know how much we lost by his leav- 
ing us." When we came to Leith, I talked with per- 
* haps too boasting an air, how pretty the Frith of Forth 
looked ; as indeed, after the prospect from Constanti- 
nople, of which I have been told, and that from Na- 
ples, which I have seen, I believe the view of that frith 
and its environs, from the Castle-hill of Edinburgh, is 
the finest prospect in Europe. " Ay, (said Dr. John- 
son,) that is the state of the world. Water is the same 
every where. 

Una est injusti cscrula foima maris."* 

I told him the port here was the mouth of the river 
or water of Leith. " Not Lethe, ''^ said Mr. Nairne. — 
" Why, sir, (said Dr. Johnson,) when a Scotchman sets 
out from this port for England, he forgets his native 
country." — Nmrne. " I hope, sir, you will forget Eng- 
land here." — Johnson. " Then 'twill be still more 
Lethe. '''^ — He observed of the Pier or Quay, " you have 
no occasion for so large a one : your trade does not re- 
quire it : but you are like a shopkeeper who takes a 
shop, not only for what he has to put into it, but that it 
may be believed he has a great deal to put into it." It 
is very true, that there is now, comparatively, little trade 
upon the eastern coast of Scotland. The riches of Glas- 
gow shew how much there is in the west; and perhaps 
we shall find trade travel westward on a great scale, as 
well as a small. 

* Non illic urbes, non tu mivabere silvas : 

Una est injusti caerula forma maris. Ovid. Amor. L. II, El. xi. 

Nor groves nor towns the ruthless ocean shows ; 
tJnvaried still its azure surface flows. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 39 

We talked of a man's drowning himself. — Johnson. 
'' I should never think it time to make away with my- 
self." — I put the case of Eustace Budgell, who was ac- , 
cused of forging a will, and sunk himself in the Thames 
before the trial of its authenticity came on. " Suppose, 
sir, (said I,) that a man is absolutely sure, that, if he 
lives a few days longer, he shall be detected in a fraud, 
the consequence of which will be utter disgrace and ex- 
pulsion from society." — Johnson. " Then, sir, let him 
go abroad to a distant country ; let him go to some 
place where he is not known. Don't let him go to the 
devil where he is known I" 

He then said, " I see a number of people bare-foot- 
ed here : I suppose you all went so before the Union. 
Boswell, your ancestors went so, when they had as 
much land as your family has now. Yet Auchinleck is 
the Field of Stones : there would be bad going bare- 
footed there. The Lairds, however, did it." — I bought 
some speldings, fish (generally whitings salted and dried 
in a particular manner, being dipped in the sea and dried 
in the sun, and eaten by the Scots by way of a relish. 
He had never seen them, though they are sold in Lon- 
don. I insisted on scottiji/ing* his palate ; but he was 
very reluctant. With difficulty I prevailed with him 
to let a bit of one of them lie in his mouth. He did not 
like it. 

In crossing the Frith, Dr. Johnson determined that 
we should land upon Inch Keith. On approaching it, 
we first observed a high rocky shore. We coasted 
about, and put into a little bay on the North-west. 
We clambered up a very steep ascent, on which was 

* My- friend, General Campbell, Govemour of Madras, tells me, that they 
make speldings in the East Indies, particularly at Bombay, where they call them 
JSombalocs. 



^0 



40 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

very good grass, but rather a profusion of thistles. 
There were sixteen head of black cattle grazing upon 
; the island. Lord Hailes observed to me, that Bran- 
tome calls it L'isle des Chevaux, and that it was proba- 
bly " a safer stable" than many others in his time. 
The fort, with an inscription on it, Maria Re 1564, is 
strongly built Dr. Johnson examined it with much 
attention. He stalked like a giant among the luxuriant 
thistles and nettles. There are three wells in the island, 
but we could not find one in the fort. There must pro- 
bably have been one, though now filled up, as a garri- 
son could not subsist without it. But I have dwelt too 
long on this little spot. Dr. Johnson afterwards bade 
me try to write a description of our discovering Inch 
Keith, in the usual style of travellers, describing fully 
every particular ; stating the grounds on which we con- 
cluded that it must have once been inhabited, and in- 
troducing many sage reflections ; and we should see 
how a thing might be covered in words, so as to induce 
people to come and survey it. All that was told might 
be true, and yet in reality there might be nothing to see. 
He said, " I'd have this island. I'd build a house, 
make a good landing-place, have a garden, and vines, 
and all sorts of trees. A rich man, of a hospitable turn, 
here, would have many visitors from Edinburgh." 
When we had got into our boat again, he called to 
me, *' Come, now, pay a classical compliment to the 
island on quitting it." I happened luckily, in allusion 
to the beautiful Queen Mary, whose name is upon the 
fort, to think of what Virgil makes ^Eneas say, on hav- 
ing left the country of his charming Dido : 

Invitus, I'egina, tuo de littore cessi.* 

* " Unhappy queen ! 

Unwilling I forsook your frfend'y state." Dryden. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 41 

'' Very well hit off!" said he. 

We dined at Kinghorn, and then got into a post- 
chaise. Mr. Nairne and his servant, and Joseph, rode , 
by us. We stopped at Cupar, and drank tea. We 
talked of parliament ; and I said, I supposed very few 
of the members knew much of what was going on, as 
indeed very few gentlemen know much of their own 
private affairs. — Johnson. " Why, sir, if a man is not 
of a sluggish mind, he may be his own steward. If he 
will look into his affairs, he will soon learn. So it is as 
to publick affairs. Therd*must always be a certain 
number of men of business in parliament." — BosxvelL 
" But, consider, sir ; what is the House of Commons. 
Is not a great part of it chosen by peers ? Do you think 
sir. they ought to have such an influence ?" — Johnson. 
" Yes, sir. Influence must ever be in proportion to 
property; audit is right it should." — Bosxvell. "But 
is there not reason to fear that the common people may 
be oppressed ?" — Johnson. " No, sir. Our great fear 
is from want of power in government. Such a storm of 
vulgar force has broke in." — Bosxvell. " It has only 
roared." — Johmon. " Sir, it has roared, till the Judges 
in Westminster-Hall have been afraid to pronounce 
sentence in opposition to the popular cry. You are 
frightened by what is no longer dangerous, like Pres- 
byterians by Popery." — He then repeated a passage, I 
think, in Butler's Remains^ which ends, " and would 
cry, Fire ! Fire ! in Noah's flood."* 

* The passage quoted by Dr. Johnson is in the Character of the Assembly -tnan, 
Butler's Remains, p. 232, edit. 1754. — ■' He preaches, indeed, both in season and 
out of season ; for he rails at Popery, when the land is almost lost in Presbytery, 
and would cry Fire ! Fire! in Noah's flood." 

There is reason to believe that this piece was not written by Butler, but by Sir 
John Birkenhead ; for Wood in his Atheiice Oxoniensis, Vol. II, p. 640, enume- 
liites it among that gentleman's works, and gives the following account of it : 

*' The Assembly -man (or the character of an Assembly-man) written 1647, 



jjrt* 



42 JOUKNAL OF A TOUR 

We had a dreary drive, in a dusky night, to St. 
Andrews, where we arrived late. We found a good 
supper at Glass's inn, and Dr. Johnson revived agreea- 
bly-. He 'said, " the collection called ' The Muses' 
Welcome' to King James, (first of England, and sixth 
of Scotland,) on his return to his native kingdom, 
shewed that there was then abundance of learning in 
Scotland : and that the conceits in that collection, with 
which people find fault, were mere mode." He added, 
" we could not now entertain a sovereign so ; that Bu- 
chanan had spread the spirft of learning amongst us, 
but we had lost it during the civil wars." He did not 
allow the Latin Poetry of Pitcairne so much merit as 
has been usually attributed to it ; though he owned that 
one of his pieces, which he mentioned, but which I am 
sorry is not specified in my notes, was " very well." 
It is not improbable that it was the poem which Prior 
has so elegantly translated. 

After supper, we made 2i procession to Saint Leonard'' s 
College ^the. landlord v/alking before us with a candle, and 
the waiter with a lantern. That college had some^time 
before been dissolved; andDr. Watson, a professor here, 
(the historian of Philip H,) had purchased the ground, and 
what buildings remained. When we entered his court, 
it seemed quite academical ; and we found in his house 
very comfortable and genteel accommodation.* 

Land. 1662-3, in three sheets in qu. Tr.e copv of it was taken from the author 
by those who said they could not rob, because all was theirs; so excised what 
they liked not ; and so mangled and reformed it, that it was no character of an 
Assembly, but of themselves. At length, after it had slept several years, the au- 
thor published it, to avoid false copies. It is also reprinted in a book entit. Wit 
and Loyalty revived, in a collection of some smart satyrs in verse and prose on the 
late times, Lo7id 1682, qu. said to be written by Abr. Cowley, Sir John Birken- 
,head, and Hudibras, alias Sarn. Butler." — For this information I am iiidebted 
to Mr. Reed, of Staple Inn. 

* My Journal, from this day inclusive, was read by Dr. Johnson. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 43 

'"'''**''* Thursday, 19 th August. 

We rose much refreshed. I had with me a map of 
Scotland, a Bible, which was given me by Lord Mount- 
stuart when we were together in Italy, and Ogden's 
Sermons on Prayer. Mr. Nairne introduced us to Dn 
Watson, whom we found a well-informed man, of very 
amiable manners. Dr. Johnson, after they were ac- 
quainted, said, " I take great delight in him." — His 
daughter, a very pleasing young lady, made breakfast. 
Dr. Watson observed, that Glasgow University had 
fewer home students, since trade increased, as learning 
was rather incompatible with it. — Johnson. " Why, sir, 
as trade is now carried on by subordinate hands, men 
in trade have as much leisure as others ; and now learn- 
ing itself is a trade. A man goes to a bookseller, and 
gets what he can. We have done with patronage. In 
the infancy of learning, v^^e find some great man praised 
for it. This diffused it among others. When it be- 
comes general, an authour leaves the great, and applies 
to the multitude." — Boswell. " It is a shame that au- 
thours are not now better patronized." — Johnson. " No, 
sir. If learning cannot support a man, if he must sit 
with his hands across till somebody feeds him, it is as. 
to him a bad thing, and it is better as it is. With pa- 
tronage, what flattery ! what falsehood ! While a man 
is in equilibrio, he throws truth among the multitude, 
and lets them take it as they please : in patronage, he 
must. say what pleases his patron, and it is an equal 
chance whether that be truth or falsehood." — Watson. 
" But is not the case now, that, instead of flattering one 
person, we flatter the age?" — Johnson. " No, sir. The 
world always lets a man tell what he thinks, his own 
way. I wonder, however, that so many people have 



44 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

written, who might have let it alone. That people 
should endeavour to excel in conversation, I do not 
, wonder ; because in conversation praise is instantly re- 
verberated." 

We talked of change of manners. Dr. Johnson ob- 
served that our drinking less than our ancestors, was 
owing to the change from ale to wine. *' I remember, 
(said he,) when all the decent people in Lichfield got 
drunk every night, and were not the worse thought of. 
Ale was cheap, so you pressed strongly. When a man 
must bring a bottle of wine, he is not in such haste. 
Smoking has gone out. To be sure, it is a shocking 
thing, blowing smoke out of our mouths into other peo- 
ple's mouths, eyes, and noses, and having the same thing 
done to us. Yet I cannot account, why a thing which 
requires so little exertion, and yet preserves the mind 
from total vacuity, should have gone out. Every man 
has something by which he calms himself; beating with 
his feet, or so.* I remember when people in England 
changed a shirt only once a week : a Pandour, when he 
gets a shirt, greases it to make it last. Formerly, good 
tradesmen had no fire but in the kitchen ; never in the 
parlour, except on Sunday. My father, who was a ma- 
gistrate of Lichfield, lived thus. They never began to 
have a fire in the parlour, but on leaving oft' business, 
or some great revolution of their life." — Dr. Watson 
said, the hall was as a kitchen, in old squires' houses. 
■ — Johnson, " No, sir. The hall was for great occa* 
sions, and never was used for domestick refection." — 
We talked of the Union, and what money it had brought 
into Scotland. Dr. Watson observed, that a little mo- 
ney formerly went as far as a great deal now. — Johnson, 

^ Dr. Johnson used to practice, this himself very much. 



f 



% 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 45 

" In speculation, it seems that a smaller quantity of mo- 
ney, equal in value to a larger quantity, if equally di- 
vided, should produce the same effect. But it is not so 
in reality. Many more conveniences and elegancies are 
enjoyed where money is plentiful, than where it is scarce. 
Perhaps a great familiarity with it, which arises from 
plenty, makes us more easily part with it." 

After what Dr. Johnson had said of St. Andrews, 
which he had long wished to see, as our ancient univer- 
sity, and the seat of our Primate in the days of episco- 
pacy, I can say little. Since the publication of Dr. 
Johnson's book, I find that he has been censured for not 
seeing here the ancient chapel of St. Rule, a curious 
piece of sacred architecture. But this was neither his 
fault nor mine. We were both of us abundantly de- 
sirous of surveying such sort of antiquities : but neither 
of us knew of this. I am afraid the censure must fall 
on those who did not tell us of it. In every place 
where there is any thing worthy of observation, there 
should be a short printed directory for strangers, such 
as we find in all the towns of Italy, and in some of the 
towns in England. I was toid that there is a manu- 
script account of St. Andrews, by Martin, secretary to 
Archbishop Sharp ; and that one Douglas has publish- 
ed a small account of it. I inquired at a bookseller's, 
but could not get it. Dr. Johnson's veneration for the 
Hierarchy is well known. There is no wonder then 
that he was affected with a sti'ong indignation, while he 
beheld the ruins of religious magnificence. I happened 
to ask where John Knox was buried. Dr. Johnson 
burst out, " I hope in the high- way. I have been look- 
ing at his reformations." 

It was a very fine day. Dr. Johnson seemed quite 
wrapt up ill the contemplation of the scenes which were 



M. 






-4.^ 



46 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

now presented to him. He kept his hat off while he 
was upon any part of the ground where the cathedral 
had stood. He said well, that " Knox had set on a 
mob, without knowing where it would end ; and that 
differing from a man in doctrine was no reason why you 
should pull his house about his ears." As we walked 
in the cloisters, there was a solemn echo, while he talk- 
ed loudly of a proper retirement from the world. Mr. 
Nairne said, he had an inclination to retire. I called 
Dr. Johnson's attention to this, that I rhight hear his 
opinion if it was right. — Johnson. " Yes, when he has 
done his duty to society. In general, as every man is 
obliged not only to " love God, but his neighbour as 
himself," he must bear his part in active life ; yet there 
are exceptions. Those who are exceedingly scrupu- 
lous, (which I do not approve, for I am no friend to 
scruples) and find their scrupulosity invincible, so that 
they are quite in the dark, and know not what they 
shall do, — or those who cannot resist temptations, and 
find they make themselves worse by being in the world, 
without making it better, may retire. I never read of 
a hermit, but in imagination I kiss his feet ; never of a 
monastery, but I could fall on my knees and kiss the 
pavement. But I think putting young people there, who 
know nothing of life, nothing of retirement, is danger- 
ous and wicked. It is a saying as old as Hesiod, 

E^y« vfalv, /3«A«<7£ y-sa-av^ ev^xQe yepivTuv* 

That is a very noble line: not that young men should 
not pray, or old men not give counsel, but that every 

• Let active enterprize the young engage. 
The riper man be famed for counsel sage ; 
Prayer is the proper duty of old age. ' - 



# 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 47 

season of life has its proper duties. I have thought of 
retiring, and have talked of it to a friend ; but I find 
my vocation is rather to active life." I said, some young 
monks might be allowed, to shew that it is not age alone 
that can retire to pious solitude ; but he thought this 
would only shew that they could not resist temptation. 

He wanted to mount the steeples but this could not 
be done. There are no good inscriptions here. Bad 
Roman characters he naturally mistook for half Gothic, 
half Roman. One of the steeples, which he was told 
was in danger, he wished not to be taken down ; " for, 
said he, it may fall on some of the posterity of John 
Knox ; and no great matter!" — Dinner was mention- 
ed. — Johnson. *' Ay, ay ; amidst all these sorrowful 
scenes, I have no objection to dinner." 

We went and looked at the castle, where Cardinal 
Beaton was murdered, and then visited Principal Mu- 
rison at his college, where is a good library-room ; but 
the principal was abundantly vain of it, for he seriously 
said to Dr. Johnson, " you have not such a one in Eng- 
land." 

The professors entertained us with a very good din- 
ner. Present: Murison, Shaw, Cooke, Hill, Haddo, 
Watson, Flint, Brown. I observed, that I wondered to 
see him eat so well, after viewing so many sorrowful 
scenes of ruined religious magnificence. '' Why, said 
he, I am not sorry, after seeing these gentlemen ; for 
they are not sorry." — Murison said, all sorrow was bad, 
as it was murmuring against the dispensations of Pro- 
vidence — Johnson. " Sir, sorrow is inherent in huma- 
nity. As you cannot judge two and two to be either 
five, or three, but certainly four, so, when comparing a 
worse present state with a better which is past, you can- 
not but feel sorrow. It is not cured by reason, but Ipy 






48 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

the incursion of present objects, which wear out the past. 
You need not murmur, though you are sorry." — Muri- 
son. " But St. Paul says, " I have learnt, in whatever 
state I am, therewith to be content." — Johnson. " Sir, 
that relates to riches and poverty ; for we see St. Eaul, 
when he had a th'Qrn in the flesh, prayed earnestly to 
have it removed ; and then he could not be content." 
— Murison, thus refuted, tried to be smart, and drank 
to Dr. Johnson, " Long may you lecture !" — Dr. John- 
son afterwards, speaking of his not drinking wine, said, 
" The Doctor spoke of lecturing (looking to him). I 
give all these lectures on water." 

He defended requiring subscription in those admit- 
t^ t#mniversities, thus : " As all who come into the 
country must obey the king, so all who come into an 
university must be of the church." 

And here I must do Dr. Johnson the justice to con- 
tradict a very absurd land ill-natured story, as to what 
passed at St. Andrews. It has been circulated, that 
after grace was said in English, in the usual manner, 
he with the greatest marks of contempt, as if he had 
held it to be no grace in an university, would not sit 
down till he had said grace aloud in Latin, This would 
have been an insult indeed to the gentlemen who were 
entertaining us. But the truth was precisely thus. In 
the course of conversation at dinner. Dr. Johnson in 
very good humour, said, " I should have expected to 
have heard a Latin grace, among so many learned men : 
we had always a Latin grace at Oxford. I believe I 
can repeat it." Which he did, as giving the learned 
men in one place a specimen of what was done by the 
learned men in another place. 

f^- We went and saw the church, in which is Arch- 
bishop Sharp's monument. I was struck with the same 



,jA ^ 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 49 

kind of feelings with which the churches of Italy im- 
pressed me. I was much pleased, to see Dr. Johnson 
actually in St. Andrews, of which we had, talked so 
long. Professor Haddo was with us this afternoon, 
along with Dr. Watson. We looked at St. Salvador's 
College. The rooms for students seemed very com- 
modious, and Dr. Johnson said, the chapel was the 
neatest place of worship he had seen. The key of the 
library could not be found ; for it seems Professor Hill, 
who was out of town, had taken it with him. Dr. John- 
son told a joke he had heard of a monastery abroad, 
where the key of the librtury could never be found. 

It was something dispiriting, to see this ancient 
archiepiscopal city now sadly deserted We saw in one 
of its streets a remarkable proof of liberal toleration ; a 
nonjuring clergyman, strutting about in his canonicals, 
with a jolly countenance and a round belly, like a well- 
fed monk. 

We observed two occupations united in the same 
person, who had hung out two sign-posts. Upon one 
was, " James Hood, White Iron Smith" fi. e. Tin- 
plate Worker.) Upon another, " The Art of Fencing 
taught, by James Hood." — Upon this last were painted 
some trees, and two men fencing, one of whom had hit 
the other in the eye, to shew his great dexterity ; so 
that the art was well taught. — Johnson. "Were I 
studying here, I should go and take a lesson, I re- 
member Hope, in his book on this art, says, 'The 
Scotch are very good fencers." 

V/e returned to the inn, where we had been enter- 
tained at dinner, and drank tea in company with some 
of the Professors, of whose civilities I beg leave to add 
my humble and very grateful acknowledgement to the 
honourable testimony of Dr. Jolinson, in his "Journey."' 



50 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

We talked of composition, which was a favourite 
topick of Dr. Watson's, who first distinguished him- 
self by lectures on rhetorick. — Johnson. " I advised 
Chambers, and would advise every young man begin- 
ning to compose, to do it as fast as he can, to get a ha- 
bit of having his mind to start promptly ; it is so much 
more difiicult to improve in speed than in accuracy." 
- — Watson. " I own I am for much attention to accu- 
racy in composing, lest one should get bad habits of do- 
ing it in a slovenly manner." — Johnson. "Why, sir, you 
are confounding doing inaccurately with the necessity 
of doing inaccurately. A man knows when his compo- 
sition is inaccurate, and when he thinks fit he'll correct 
it. But if a man is accustomed to compose slowly, and 
with diificulty, upon all occasions, there is danger that 
he may not compose at all, as we do not like to do that 
which is not done easily ; and, at any rate, more time 
is consumed in a small matter than ought to be." — 
Watson. " Dr. Hugh Blair has taken a week to com- 
pose a sermon.'' — Johnson. "Then, sir, that is for 
want of the habit of composing quickly, which I am in- 
sisting one should acquire." — Watson. " Blair was 
not composing all the week, but only such hours as he 
found himself disposed for composition." — Johnson. 
" Nay, sir, unless you tell me the time he took, you 
tell me nothing.. If I say I took a week to walk a mile, 
and have had the gout five days, and been ill otherwise 
another day, I have taken but one day. I myself have 
composed about forty sermons. I have begun a ser- 
mon after dinner, and sent it off by the post that night. 
I wrote forty -eight of the printed octavo pages of the 
Life of Savage at a sitting ; but then I sat up all night. 
I have also writteii six sheets in a day of translation 
from the FrenGh."—^o^^e/A " We have all observed 



m 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 51 



how one man dresses himself slowly, and another fast." 

Johnson. "Yes, sir; it is wonderful how much time 

some people will consume in dressing ; taking up a 
thing and looking at it, and laying it down, and taking 
it up again. Every one should get the habit of doing 
it quickly. I would say to a young divine, ' Here is 
your text ; let me sec how soon you can make a ser- 
mon.' Then I'd say, ' Let me see how much better 
you can make it.' Thus I should see both his powers 
and his judgement." 

We all went to Dr. Watson's to supper. Miss 
Sharp, great grandchild of Archbishop Sharp, was 
there ; as was Mr. Craig, the ingenious architect of the 
new town of Edinburgh, and nephew of Thomson, to 
whom Dr. Johnson has since done so much justice, in 
his " Lives of the Poets." 

We talked of memory, and its various modes. — 
Johnson. " Memory will play strange tricks. One 
sometimes loses a single word. I once lost fugaces in 
the Ode Posthume, Posthume:' I mentioned to him 
that a worthy genUeman of my acquaintance actually 
forgot his own name. — Johnson. " Sir, that was a mor- 
bid oblivion." 

Friday, 20th August. 

Dr. Shaw, the professor of divinity, breakfasted 
with us. I took out my " Ogden on I^rayer," and 
read some of it to the company. Dr. Johnson praised 
him. " Abernethy, (said he,) allows only of a physi- 
cal eifect of prayer upon the mind, which may be pro^ 
duced many ways, as well as by pra}'er ; for instance, 
by meditation. Ogden goes farther. In truth, we 
have the consent of all nations for the efficacy of pray- 



m JOURNAL OF A TOUH 

er, whether offered up by individuals, or by assemblies 5 
and Revelation has told us, it will be effectual." — I 
said, " Leechman seemed to incline to Abernet.hy's 
doctrine." Dr. Watson observed, that Leechman 
meant to shew, that, even admitting no effect to be pro- 
duced by prayer, respecting the Deity, it was useful to 
our own minds. He had given only a part of his sys- 
tem : Dr. Johnson thought he should have given the 
whole. 

Dr. Johnson enforced the strict observance of Sun- 
day. "It should be different (he observed) from ano- 
ther day. People may walk, but not throw stones at 
birds. There may be relaxation, but there should be 
no levity." 

We went and savv^ Colonel Naime's garden and 
grotto. Here was a fine old plane tree. Unluckily 
the colonel said, there was but this and another large 
tree in the county. This assertion was an excellent 
cue for Dr. Johnson, who laughed enormously, calling 
me to hear it. He had expatiated to me on the naked- 
nes of that part of Scotland which he had seen. His 
" Journey" has been violently abused, for what he has 
said upon this subject. But let it be considered, that 
when Dr. Johnson talks of trees, he means trees of 
good size, such as he was accustomed to see in Eng- 
land ; and of these there are certainly very few upon 
the eastern coast of Scotland. Besides, he said, that 
he meant to give only a map of the road ; and let any 
traveller 'observe how many trees, which deserve the 
name, he can see from the road from Berwick to 
Aberdeen. Had Dr. Johnson said, " there are ?i& 
trees" upon this line, he would have said what is col- 
loquially true ; because, by no trees, in common 
speech, we mean few. When he is particular in 



■*;• 
^ 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 53 

counting, he may be attacked. I know not how 
Colonel Nairne came to say there were but two large 
trees m the county of Fife. I did not perceive that he 
smiled. There are certainly not a great many ; but I 
could have shewn him more than two at Balmiito, 
from whence my ancestors came, and which now be- 
longs to a branch of my family. 

In the grotto, we saw a lobster's claw uncommonly 
large. In the front of it were petrified stocks of fir, 
plane, and some other tree. Dr. Johnson said, " Scot- 
land has no right to boast of this grotto ; it is owing to 
personal merit. I never denied personal merit to many 
of you." — Professor Shaw said to me, as we walked, 
" This is a wonderful man : he is master of every sub- 
ject he handles." — Dr. Watson allowed him a very 
strong understanding, but wondered at his total inatten- 
tion to established manners, as he came from London. 

I have not preserved, in my Journal, any of the con- 
versation which passed between Dr. Johnson and Pro- 
fessor Shaw ; but I recollect Dr. Johnson said to mc 
afterwards, " I took much to Shaw." 

We left St. Andrews about noon, and some miles 
from it observing, at Leuchars^ a church, with an old 
tower, we stopped to look at it. The manse^ as the 
parsonage-house is called in Scotland, was close by, I 
waited on the minister, mentioned our names, and beg- 
ged he ^vould tell us what he knew about it. He was 
a very civil old man ; but could only inform us, that it 
was supposed to have stood eight hundred years. He 
told us, there was a colony of Danes in his parish ; that 
they had landed at a remote period of time, and still re- 
mained a distinct people. Dr. Johnson shrewdly in- 
quired whether they had brought women with them. 
We were not satisfied as to this colony. 



54 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

We saw, this day, Dundee and Aberbrothick, the 
last of which Dr. Johnson has celebrated in his " Jour- 
ney." Upon the road we talked of the Roman Catho- 
lick faith. He mentioned (I think) Tillotson's argu- 
ment against transubstantiation : " That we are as sure 
we see bread and wine only, as that we read in the Bi- 
ble the text on which that false doctrine is founded. 
We have only the evidence of our senses for both." 
*' If, (he added,) God had. never spoken figuratively, 
we might hold that he speaks literally, when he says, 
'This is my body." ' — Boswell. "But what do you 
say, sir, to the ancient and continued tradition of the 
church upon this point ?" — Johnson. " Tradition, sir, 
has no place, where the Scriptures are plain ; and tra- 
dition cannot persuade a man into a belief of transub- 
stantiation. Able men, indeed, have said they believed 
it." 

This is an awful subject. I did not then press Dr. 
Johnson upon it ; nor shall 1 now enter upon a disqui- 
sition concerning the import of those words uttered by 
our Saviour, which had such an effect upon many of 
his disciples, that they " went back, and walked no 
more with him." The Catechism and solemn office 
for Communion, in the Church of England, maintain 
a mysterious belief in more than a mere commemora- 
tion of the death of Christ, by partaking of the elements 
of bread and wine. 

Dr. Johnson put me in mind, that, at St. Andrews, 
I had defended my profession very well, when the ques- 
tion had again been started, Whether a lawyer might 
honestly engage with the first side that offers him a 
fee. " Sir, (said I,) it was with your arguments 
against Sir William Forbes : but it was much that I 
could wield the arms of Goliah." 



"*fe- 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 55 

He said, our judges had not gone deep in the ques- 
tion concerning literary property. I mentioned Lord 
Monboddo's opinion, that if a man could get a work 
by heart, he might print it, as by such an act the mind 
is exercised. — Johnson, " No, sir ; a man's repeating it 
no more makes it his property, than a man may sell a cow 
which he drives home." — I said, printing an abridge- 
ment of a work was allowed, which was only cutting 
the horns and tail off the cow. — Johnson. " No sir ; 
'tis making the cow have a calf." 

About eleven at night we arrived at Montrose. Wc 
found but a sorry inn, where I myself saw another wai- 
ter put a lump of sugar with his fingers into Dr. John- 
son's lemonade, for which he called him "Rascal!" 
It put me in great glee that our landlord was an Eng- 
lishman. I rallied the Doctor upon this, and he grew 
quiet. Both Sir John Hawkins's and Dr. Burney's His- 
tory of Musick had then been advertised. I asked if 
this was not unlucky : would not they hurt one another? 
— Johnson. "No, sir. They wull do good to one ano- 
ther. Some will buy the one, some the other, and com- 
pare them ; and so a talk is made about a thing, and the 
books are sold." 

He was angry at me for proposing to carry lemons 
with us to Sky, that he might be sure to have his le- 
monade. " Sir, (said he,) I do not wish to be thought 
that feeble man who cannot do without any thing. Sir, 
it is very bad manners to carry provisions to any man's 
house, as if he could not entertain you. To an infe- 
riour it is oppressive ; to a superiour, it is insolent." 

Having taken the liberty, this evening, to remark to 
Dr. Johnson, that he very often sat quite silent for a Ions.!: 
time, even when in company v\dth only a single friend, 
which I mvself had sometimes sadlv experienced, he 



56 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 



smiled and said, *' It is true^ sir. Tom Tyers, (for so 
he familiarly called our ingenious friend, who, since his 
death, has paid a biographical tribute to his memory,) 
Tom Tyers described me the best. He once said to 
me, ' Sir you are like a ghost ; you never speak till you 
are spoken to.-' 

Saturday^ 2\st August. 

Neither the Rev. Mr. Nisbet, the established minis- 
ter, nor the Rev. Mr. Spooner, the episcopal minister, 
were in town. Before breakfast, we went and saw the 
town-hail, where is a good dancing room, and other 
rooms, for tea-drinking. The appearance of the town 
from it is very well ; but many of the houses are built 
with their ends to the street, which looks awkward. 
When we came down from it, I met Mr. Gleg, a mer- 
chant here. He went with us to see the English cha- 
pel. It is situated on a pretty dry spot, and there is a 
fine walk to it. It is really an elegant building, both 
within and without. The organ is adorned with green 
and gold. Dr. Johnson gave a shilling extraordinary to 
the clerk, saying, " He belongs to an honest church." 
I put him in mind, that episcopals were but dissenters 
here ; they were only tolerated. " Sir, (said he,) we 
are here, as Christians in Turkey." — He afterwards 
went into an apothecary's shop, and ordered some medi- 
cine for himself, and wrote the prescription in technical 
characters. The boy took him for a physician, 

I doubted much which road to take, whether to g© 
by the coast, or by Laurence Kirk and Monboddo. I 
knew Lord Monboddo and Dr. Johnson did not love 
each other : yet I was unwilling not to visit his lord- 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 57 

ship ; and was also curious to see them together*, 
I mentioned my doubts to Dr. Johnson, who said, he 
would go two miles out of his way to see Lord Mon- 
boddo. I therefore sent Joseph forward, with the fol- 
lowing note : 

^^ Ml/ dear Lord, Montrose, 21 August. 

" THUS far I am come with Mr. Samuel Johnson. 
We must be at Aberdeen to-night. I know you do 
not admire him so much as I do ; but I cannot be in 
this country without making you a bow at your old 
place, as I do not know if I may again have an oppor- 
tunity of seeing Monboddo. Besides, Mr. Johnson 
says, he would go two miles out of his way to see Lord 
Monboddo. I have sent forward my servant, that we 
may know if your lordship be at home. I am ever, 
my dear lord, 

" Most sincerely yours, 

"James Boswell." 

As we travelled onwards from Montrose, we had, 
the Grampion hills in our view, and some good land 
around us, but void of trees and hedges. Dr. Johnson 
has said ludicrously, in his "Journey," that the hedges 
were of stbne; for, instead of the verdant thorn to re- 
fresh the eye, we found the bare wall or dike intersect- 
ing the prospect. He observed, that it was wonderful 
to see a country so divested, so denuded of trees. 

We stopped at Laurence Kirk, where our great 
grammarian, Ruddiman, was once schoolmaster. Wq 

* There were several points of similarity between them ; learning, cleames.s 
of head, precision of speech, and a, love of research on many subjects which people 
in general do not investigate. Foote paid Lord Monboddo the compUmejit of 
saying, that he was " an Elzevir edition of Johnson." 

1 



58 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

respectfully remembered that excellent man and emi" 
nent scholar, by whose labours a kno\vledge of the 
Latm language will be preserved in Scotland, if it shall 
be preserved at all. Lord Gardenston, one of our 
judges, collected money to raise a monument to him at 
this place, 'uhich I hope will be well executed. I 
know my father gave five guineas towai'ds it. Lord 
Gardenston is the proprietor of Laurence Kirk, and has 
encouraged the building of a manufacturing village, of 
which he is exceedingly fond, and has written a pam- 
phlet upon it, as if he had founded Thebes ; in which, 
however, there are many useful precepts strongly ex- 
pressed. The village seemed to be irregularly built, 
some of the houses being of clay, some of brick, and 
some of brick and stone. Dr. Johnson observed, they 
thatclied ^vell here. 

I was a little acquainted with Mr. Forbes, the min- 
ister of the parish. I sent to inform him that a gentle- 
man desired to see him. He returned for answer, 
"that he would not come to a stranger." I then gave 
my name, and he came. I remonstrated to him for 
not coming to a stranger ; and, by presenting him to 
Dr. Johnson, proved to him what a stranger might 
sometimes be. His Bible inculcates " be not forgetful 
to entertain strangers," and mentions the same motive. 
He defended himself by saying, " He had once come to 
a stranger who sent for him ; and he found him ' a lit- 
tie-worth person .'" 

Dr. Johnson insisted on stopping at the inn, as I told 
him that Lord Gardenston had furnished it with a col- 
lection of books, that travellers might have entertain- 
ment for the mind, as well as the body. He praised 
the design, but wished there had been more books, and 
those better chosen. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 59 

About a mile from Monboddo, where you turn oft' 
the road, Joseph was waiting to tell us my lord expect- 
ed us to dinner. We drove over a wild moor. It 
rained, and the scene was somewhat dreary. Dr. John- 
son repeated, with solenm emphasis, Macbeth's speech 
on meeting the witches. As we travelled on, he told 
me, *' Sir, you got into our club by doing what a man 
can do.* Several of the members wished to keep you 
out. Burke told me, he doubted if you Avere fit for 
it : but, now you are in, none of them are sony. Burke 
says, that you have so much good humour naturally, it 
is scarce a virtue." — Boswell. "They were afraid of 
you, sir, as it was you who proposed me." — Johnson. 
'' Sir, they knew, that if they refused you, they'd proba- 
bly never have got in another. I'd have kept them all 
out. Beauclerk was very earnest for you." BoswelL 
" Beauclerk has a keenness of mind which is very un- 
common." — Johnson. ■ " Yes, sir ; and every thing- 
comes from him so easily. It appears to me that I la- 
bour, when I say a good thing." — Bosiuell. "You 
are loud, sir ; but it is not an effort of mind." 

Monboddo is a wretched place, wild and naked, 
with a poor old house ; though, if I recollect right, 
there are two turrets which mark an old baron's resi- 
dence. Lord Monboddo received us at his gate most 
courteously ; pointed to the Douglas arms upon his 
house, and told us that his rrreat q-rand-mother was of 
that family. "In such houses (said he,) our ancestors 
lived, who were better men than we." — " No, no, my 
lord (said Dr. Johnson). We are as strong as they, an'd 
a great deal wiser." — This was an assault upon one of 

* This, I find, is considered as obscure. I suppose Br. Johnson meant, that 
1 assiduously and earnestly recommended myself to 50'T»e 9»" the m.embc-s, as in v. 
canvass for an election into parliairrent . 



60 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

Lord Monboddo's capital dogmas, and I was afraid 
there would have been a violent altercation in the very 
close, before we got into the house. But his lordship is 
distinguished not only for " ancient metaphysicks," but 
for ancient politesse, " la vie'ille coiii\^'' and he made no 
reply. 

His lordship was drest in a rustick suit, and wore a 
little round hat ; he told us, we now saw him as Farmer 
Burnett^ and we should have his family dinner, a far- 
mer's dinner. He said, " I should not have forgiven 
Mr. Bosweil, had he not brought you here. Dr. John- 
son." He produced a very long stalk of corn, as a spe- 
cimen of his crop, and said, " you see here the Icetas se- 
getes ••" he added, that Virgil seemed to be as enthusias- 
tick a farmer as he, and was certainly a practical one. — 
Johnson. " It does not always follow, my lord, that a 
man who has written a good poem on an art, has prac- 
tised it. Philip Miller told me, that in Philips's Cyder, 
a poem, all tltfe precepts were just, and indeed better 
than in books written for the purpose of instructing ; 
yet Philips had never made cyder." 

I started the subject of emigration. — Johnson. " To 
a man of mere animal life, you can urge no argument 
against going to America, but that it will be some time 
before he will get the earth to produce. But a man of 
any intellectual enjoyment will not easily go and im- 
merse himself and his posterity for ages in barbarism." 

He and my lord spoke highh^ of Homer. — Johnson. 
** He had all the learning of his age. The shield of 
Achilles shews a nation in war, a nation in peace ; har- 
vest sport, nay stealing."* — Monboddo. " Ay, and what 

* My note of this is much too short. Brevis esse laboro, obscuntsfio. Yet, as 
I have resolved that the very yournal vshkh Dr jfohnson read, shall be presented to 
the publickj I will not expand the text in any considerable degree, though I may 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 61 

we (looking to me) would call a parliament-house scene; 
a cause pleaded."- — Johnson, " That is part of the life 
of a natiop in peace. And there are in Homer such cha- 
racters of heroes, and combinations of qualities of he- 
roes, that the united powers of mankind ever since have 
not produced any but what are to be found there." — 
Monboddo. " Yet no character is described." — Johnson. 
*' No ; they all develope themselves. Agamemnon is 
always a gentleman-like character ; he has always v,a.<ri- 
xty^v Ti. That the ancients held so, is plain from this : 
that Euripides iri his Hecuba, makes him the person to 
interpose."* — -Monboddo. " The history of manners is 
the most valuable. I never set a high value on any 
other history." — Johnson. " Nor I; and therefore I es- 
teem biography, as giving us what comes near to our- 
selves, what we can turn to use." — Boswell. "But in 
the course of general history, we find manners. In wars 
we see the dispositions of people, their degrees of huma-r 
nity, and other particulars." — Johnson. *' Yes ; but thefi 
you must take all the facts to get this ; and it is but. a 
little you get." — Monboddo. " And it is that little which 
rapkes history valuable." — Bravo! thought I, they agree 
like two brothers. — Monboddo. " I am sorry. Dr. John- 
son, you were no longer at Edinburgh, to receive the 

occasionally supply a word to complete the r.ense, as I fill up the blanks of abbrc 
viation in the writing ; neither of which can be said to change the genuine Jour- 
nal. One of the best criticks of our age conjectures that the imperfect passage 
above has probably been as follows : " In his book we have an accurate display of 
a nation in war, and a nation in peace ; the peasant is delineated as truly as the. 
general ; nay, even harvest sport, and the inodes of ancient theft are described." 
* Dr. Johnson modestly said, he had not read Homer so much as he wished 
he had done. But this conversation shevv^s how well he was acquainted with the 
Mosonian bard: and he has sliewn it still more in his criticism upon Pope's Ho- 
mer, in his Life of that Poet. My excellent friend, Mr. Langton, told me, he 
was once present at a dispute between Dr. Johnson and Mr. Burke, on the com- 
parative merits of Homer and Virgil, which was carried, on with extraordinary 
abilities on both sides. Dr. Johnson maintained the superiority of Homer, 



62 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

homage of our men of learning." — Johiison, " My lord, 
I received great respect and great kindness." — Bosivell. 
'' He goes back to Edinburgh after our tour." — We 
talked of the decrease of learning in Scotland, and of the 
*'Muses' Welcome." — Johnson. "Learningis much de- 
creased in England, in my remembrance." — Monboddo, 
" You, sir, have lived to see its decrease in England, I 
its extinction in Scotland." However, I brought him 
to confess that the High School of Edinburgh did well. 
Johnson. " Learning has decreased in England, because 
learning will not do so much for a man as formerly. 
There are other ways of getting preferment. Few 
bishops are now made for their learning. To be a 
bishop, a man must be learned in a learned age, — fac- 
tious in a factious age ; but always of eminence. War- 
burton is an exception ; though hiis learning alone did 
not raise him. He was first an antagonist to Pope, and 
helped Theobald to publish his Shakspeare; but, see- 
ing Pope the rising man, — ^when Crousaz attacked his 
' Essay on Man,' for some faults which it has, and 
some which it has not, Warburton defended it in the 
Review of that time. This brought him acquainted 
with Pope, and he gained his friendship. Pope intro- 
duced him to Allen, Allen married him to his niece: 
so, by Allen's interest and his own, he was made a 
bishop. But then his learning was the sine qua non : 
He knew how to make the most of it ; but I do hot find 
by any dishonest means." — Monboddo. " He is a great 
man." — Johnson. " Yes, he has great knowledge, great 
power of mind. Hardly any man brings greater va- 
riety of learning to bear upon his point." — Monboddo. 
" He is one of the greatest lights of your church." — - 
Johnson. " Why, we are not so sure of his being very 
friendh' to us. He blazes, if you will, but that is not 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 63 

always the steadiest light. — Lowth is another bishop 
who has risen by his learning." 

Dr. Johnson examined young Arthur, Lord Mon- 
boddo's son, in Latin. He answered very well ; upon 
which he said with complacency, " Get you gone! 
When King James comes back,* you shall be in the 
Muses' Welcome !" — My lord and Dr. Johnson dis. 
puted a little, whether the Savage or the London shop- 
keeper had the best existence ; his lordship, as usual, 
preferring the Savage. — My Lord was extremely hos- 
pitable, and I saw both Dr. Johnson and him liking each 
other better every hour. 

Dr. Johnson having retired for a short time, his lord- 
ship spoke of his conversation as I could have wished. 
Dr. Johnson had said, " I have done greater feats with 
my knife than this ;" though he had eaten a very heart}- 
dinner. — My lord, who affects or believes he follows an 
abstemious system, seemed struck with Dr. Johnson's 
manner of living. I had a particular satisfaction in being 
under the roof of Monboddo, my lord being my father's 
old friend, and having been always very good to me. 
We were cordial together. He asked Dr. Johnson and 
me to stay all night. When I said we must be at Aber- 
deen, he replied, " Well, I am like the Romans: I shaU 
say to you, ' Happy to come; — happy to depart :" He 
thanked Dr. Johnson for his visit. — Johnson. " I littk 
thought, when I had the honour to meet your lordship 
in London, that I should see you at Monboddo." After 
dinner, as the ladies were going away, Dr. Johnson 
would stand up. He insisted that politeness Avas of 
great consequence in society. "It is (said he,) ficti- 

* I find, some doubt has been entertained concernmg Dr. Johnson's meanhi^ 
here. It is to be supposed that he meant, " when a king sh?.',i r.?;ain be enterta^i';- 
ed in Scotland." 



64 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

tious benevolence. It supplies the place of it amongst 
those who see each other only in publjck, or but little. 
Depend upon it, the want of it never fails to produce 
something disagreeable to one or other. I have always 
applied to good breeding, what Addison in his Cato says 
of honour : 

" Honour's a sacred tie; the law of Kings; 

" The noble mind's distinguishing perfection, 

" That aids and strengthens Virtue where it meets her. 

*' And imitates her actions where she is not." 

When he took up his large oak stick, he said, " My 
lord, that's Homerick ;'*'' thus pleasantly alluding to his 
lordship's favourite writer. 

Gory, my lord's black servant, was sent as our 
guide, to conduct us to the high road. The circum- 
stance of each of them having a black servant was 
another point of similarity between Johnson and Mon- 
boddo. I observed how curious it was to see an Afri- 
can in the north of Scotland, with little or no difference 
of manners from those of the natives. Dr. Johnson 
laughed to see Gory and Joseph riding together most 
cordially. "Those two fellows, (said he,) one from 
Africa, the other from Bohemia, seem quite at home." 
—He was much pleased with Lord Monboddo to- 
day. He said, he would have pardoned him for a 
few paradoxes, when he found he had so much that 
was good : but that, from his appearance in London, 
he thought him all paradox ; which would not do. — 
He observed that his lordship had talked no paradoxes 
to-day. " And as to the savage and the London shop- 
keeper, (said he ) I don't know but I might have taken 
the side of the savage equally, had any body else taken 
the side of the shopkeeper." — He had said to my lord, 



TO THE HEBRIDES. ^5 

in opposition to the value of the savage's courage, that 
it was owing to his limited power of thinking, and re- 
peated Pope's verses, in which " Macedonia's mad- 
man" is introduced, and the conclusion is, 

" Yet ne'er looks forward farther than his nose." 

J objected to the last phrase, as being low. — Johnson. 
*' Sir, it is intended to be low : it is satire. The ex- 
pression is debased, to debase the character." 

When Gory was about to part from us. Dr. John- 
son called to him, " Mr. Gory, give me leave to ask 
you a question ! are you baptised V Gory told him he 
was, — and confirmed by the Bishop of Durham. He 
then gave him a shilling. 

/ We had tedious driving this afternoon, and were 
somewhat drowsy. Last night I was afraid Dr. John- 
son was beginning to faint in his resolution ; for he 
said, "If we must rrde much, we shall not go ; and 
there's an end on't." — To-day when he talked of Sky 
with spirit, I said, Why, sir, you seemed to me to de- 
spond yesterday. You are a delicate Londoner ; — you 
are a maccaroni ; jow can't ride." — Johnson. " Sir, I 
shall ride better than you. I was only afraid I should 
not find a horse able to carry me." — I hoped then there 
would be no fear of getting through our wild Tour. 

We came to Aberdeen at half an hour past eleven. 
The New Inn, we were told, was full. This was com- 
fortless. The waiter, however, asked if one of our 
names was Boswell, and brought me a letter left at the 
inn : it was from Mr. Thrale, enclosing one to Dr. 
Johnson. Finding who I was, we were told they 
would contrive to lodge us by putting us for a night 
into a room v/ith two beds. The waiter said to me in 



1 



66 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

the broad strong Aberdeenshire dialect, " I thought I 
knew you, by your likeness to your father." — My fa- 
ther puts up at the New Inn, when on his circuit. Lit- 
tle was said to night, I was to sleep in a little press- 
bed in Dr. Johnson^s room. I had it wheeled out int« 
the dining-room, and there I lay very well, 

Sunday 22d August, 

I sent a message to Professor Thomas Gordon^ 
who came and breakfasted with us. He had secured 
seats for us at the English chapel. We found a res- 
pectable congregation, and an admirable organ, well 
played by Mr. Tait. 

We walked down to the shore. Dr. Johnson laugh- 
ed to hear that Cromwell's soldiers taught the Aber- 
deen people to make shoes and stockings, and to plant 
cabbages. He asked if weaving the plaids was ever a 
domestick art in the Highlands, like spinning or knitting. 
They could not inform him here. But he conjectured 
probably, that where people lived so remote from each 
other, it was likely to be a domestick art j as we see it 
was among the ancients, from Penelope. — I was sensi- 
ble to-day, to an extraordinary degree, of Dr. Johnson's 
excellent English pronunciation. I cannot account for 
its striking me more now than any other day : but it 
was as if new to me ; and I listened to every sentence 
which he spoke, as to musical composition. — Professor 
Gordon gave him an account of the plan of education 
in his college. Dr. Johnson said, it was similar to that 
at Oxford. — Waller the poet's great grandson was stu- 
dying here. Dr. Johnson wondered that a man should 
send his son so far off, when there were so many good 
schools in England. He said, " At a great school there^ 



TO TliE HEBRIDES. 67 

is all the splendour and illumination of many minds ; 
the radiance of all is concentrated in each, or at least 
reflected upon each. But we must own that neither a 
dull boy, nor an idle boy, will do so well at a great 
school as at a private one. For at a great school there 
are always boys enough to do well easily, who are suf- 
ficient to keep up the credit of the school ; and after 
whipping being tried to no purpose, the dull or idle boys 
are left at the end of a class, having the appearance of 
going through the course, but learning nothing at all. 
Such boys may do good at a private school, where con- 
stant attention is paid to them, and they are watched. 
So that the question of publick or private education is 
not properly a general one ; but whether one or the other 
is best for my sony 

We were told the present Mr. Waller was a plain 
country gentleman : and his son would be such another. 
I observed, a family could not expect a poet but in a 
hundred generations. — " Nay, (said Dr. Johnson,) not 
one family in a hundred can expect a poet in a hundred 
generations." He then repeated Dry den's celebrate^ 
lines, 

"Three poets in three distant ages born, &c. 

and a part of a Latin translation of it done at Oxford :* 
he did not then say by whom. 

* London, 2nd May, 1778. 
Dr. Johnson acknowledged that he was himself the authour of the tifan^ 
Nation above alluded to, and dictated it to me as follows.: 

Quos laudet vates Grains Romanus et Anglus 

Tres tria temporibus secla dedere suis. 
Sublime ingenium Grains ; Romanus habebat 

Carmen grande sonans ; Anglus utrumque tiilij. 
Nil majus Natura capit ; clarare priores 
Qpe potuere duos tertius unus habet. 



68 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

He received a card from Sir Alexander GordoD^ 
who had been his acquaintance twenty years ago in 
London, and who, "if forgiven for not answering a 
line from him," would come in the afternoon. Dr. 
Johnson rejoiced to hear of him, and begged he would 
come and dine with us. I was much pleased to see the 
kindness with which Dr. Johnson received his old 
friend Sir Alexander; a gentleman of good family, 
Lismore, but who had not the estate. The King's! 
College here made him Professor of Medicine, which 
affords him a decent subsistence. He told usthat the 
value of the stockings exported from Aberdeen was, in 
peace, a hundred thousand pounds ; and amounted, in 
time of war, to one hundred and seventy thousand 
pounds. Dr. Johnson asked, What made the differ- 
ence ? Here we had a proof of the comparative saga-, 
city of the two professors. Sir Alexander answered, 
" Because there is more occasion for them in war." 
Professor Thomas Gordon answered, "Because the 
Germans, who are our great rivals in the manufacture 
of stockings, are otherwise employed in time of war." — 
Johnson. " Sir, you have given a very good solution." 
At dinner Dr. Johnson ate several plate-fulls of 
Scotch broth, with barley and peas in it, and seemed 
very fond of the dish. I said, " You never ate it be- 
fore." — Johnson. "No, sir; but I don't care how 
soon I eat it again." — My cousin. Miss Dallas, former- 
ly of Inverness, was married to Mr. Riddoch, one of 
the ministers of the English chapel here. He was ill, 
and confined to his room ; but she sent us a kind invi- 
tation to tea, which we all accepted. She was the same 
lively, sensible, cheerful woman, as ever. Dr. John- 
son here threw out some jokes against Scotland. He 
said, " You go first to Aberdeen ; then to Enbru (the 



To THE HEBRIDES. 69 

Scottish pronunciation of Edinburgh) ; then to New- 
castle, to be polished by the colliers ; then to York ; 
then to London." And he laid hold of a little girl, 
Stuart Dallas, niece to Mrs. Riddoch, and, represented 
himself as a giant, said, he would take her with him ! 
telling her, in a hollow voice, that he lived in a cave, 
and had a bed in the rock, and she should have a little 
bed cut opposite to it ! 

' He thus treated the point, as to prescription of mur- 
der m Scotland. " A jury in England would make al- 
lowance for deficiencies of evidence, on account of 
lapse of time : but a general rule that a crime should 
not be punished, or tried for the purpose of punish- 
ment, after twenty years, is bad : It is cant to 
talk of the King's advocate delaying a prosecution 
from malice. How unlikely is it the King's advocate 
should have malice against persons who commit mur- 
der, or should even know them at all. — If the son of 
the murdered man should kill the murderer who got 
off merely by prescription, I would help him to make 
his escape ; though, were I upon his jury, I would not 
acquit him. I would not advise him to commit such 
an act. On the contrary, I would bid him submit to 
the determination of society, because a man is bound 
to.submit to the inconveniences of it, as he enjoys the 
good : but the young man, though politically wrong, 
would not be morally wrong. He would have to say, 
" Here I am amongst barbarians, who not only refuse 
to do justice, but encourage the greatest of all crimes. 
I am therefore in a state of nature : for, so far as there 
is no law, it is a state of nature ; and consequently, up- 
on the eternal and immutable law of justice, which re- 
quires that he who sheds man's blood should have his 
blood shed, I will stab the murderer of my father." 



V0 JOURNAL OF A TOUJl 

We went to our inn, and sat quietly. Dr. Johnson 
borrowed, at Mr. Riddoch's a volume of Massilloii's 
Discourses on the psalms : but I found he read little in 
it. Ogden too he sometimes took up, and glanced at j 
but threw it down again. I then entered upon religious 
conversation. Never did I see him in a better frame : 
calm, gentle, wise, holy. — I said, "Would not the 
same objection hold against the Trinity as against 
Transubstantiation ?" — "Yes, (said he,) if you take 
three and one in the same sense. If you do so, to be 
sure you cannot believe it : but the three persons in the 
Godhead are Three in one sense, and One in another. 
We cannot tell how ; and that is the mystery !" 

I spoke of the satisfaction of Christ. He said his 
notion was, that it did not atone for the sins of the 
world ; but by satisfying divine justice, by shewing 
that no less than the Son of God suffered for sin, it 
shewed to men and innumerable created beings, the 
heinousness of it, and therefore rendered it unnecessary 
for divine vengeance to be exercised against simiers, as 
it otherwise must have been ; that in this way it might 
operate even in favor of those who had never heard of 
it: as to those who did hear of it, the effect it should 
produce would be repentance and piety, by impressing 
upon the mind a just notion of sin : that original sin was 
the propensity to evil, which no doubt Was occasioned 
by the fall. He presented this solemn subject in a new 
light to me,^ and rendered much more rational and clear 
the doctrine of what our Saviour has done for us j — as 
it removed the notion of imputed righteousness in co- 

* My worthy, intelligent and candid friend. Dr. Kippis, informs me, that 
several divines have thus explained the mediation of our Saviour. What Dr. 
Johnson now delivered, was but a temporary opinion ; for he afterv^rards was 
fully convinced of the propitiatory sacrifice, as 1 shall shew at large in my fiitUre 
■»irork, The Life or Samuel Johnson, L. L. D. 



TO THE HEBRIDES.. 71 

©perating ; whereas by this view, Christ has done all al- 
ready that he had to do, or is ever to do, for mankind, 
by making his great satisfaction ; the consequences of 
which will affect each individual according to the parti- 
cular conduct of each. I would illustrate this by saying 
that Christ's satisfaction resembles a sun placed to shew 
light to men, so that it depends upon themselves whether 
they will walk the right way or not, which they could 
not have done without that sun, " the sun of righteous- 
ness.''^ There is, however, more in it than merely giv- 
ing light, — a light to lighten the Gentiles : for we are 
told, there is healing under his wings. Dr. Johnsont 
said to me, " Richard Baxter commends a treatise by 
Grotius, De Satisfactione Christi. I have never read 
it : but I intend to read it ; and you may read it." I 
remarked, upon the principle now laid down, we might 
explain the difficult and seemingly hard text, " They 
that believe shall be saved; and they that believe 
not shall be damned :" They that believe shall have 
such an impression made upon their minds, as will 
make them act so that they may be accepted by God. 
We talked of one of our friends taking ill, for a 
length of time, a hasty expression of Dr. Johnson's to 
him, on his attempting to prosecute a subject that had 
a reference to religion, beyond the bounds within 
which the Doctor thought such topicks should be con- 
fined in a mixed company. — Johnson. "What is to 
become of society, if a friendship of twenty years is to 
be broken off for such a cause ?" As Bacon says, 

" Who then to frail mortality shall trust, 

" But limns the water, or but writes in dust." 

I said, he should write expressly in support of 
Christianity; for that, although a reverence for it shines 



f2 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

through his works in several places, that is not enough, 
" You know, (said I,) what Grotius has done, and what 
Addison has done. — -You should do also." — -He re- 
plied, "I hope I shall." 

Monday, 23d August. 

Principal Campbell, Sir Alexander Gordon, Profes- 
sor Gordon, and Professor Ross, visited us in the morn- 
ing, as did Dr. Gerard, who had come six miles from 
the country on purpose. We went and saw the Maris- 
chal College,* and at one o'clock we waited on the ma- 
gistrates in the town-hall, as they had invited us in or- 
der to present Dr. Johnson with the freedom of the 
town, which Provost Jopp did with a very good 
grace. Dr. Johnson was much pleased with this mark 
of attention, and received it very politely. There was 
a pretty numerous company assembled. It was striking 
to hear all of them drinking " Dr. Johnson ! Dr. John- 
son !" in the town-hall of Aberdeen, and then to see 
him with his burgess-ticket, or diploma,| in his hat, 
which he wore as he walked along the street, according 
to the usual custom. — It gave me great satisfaction to 
observe the regard, and indeed fondness too, which 
every body here had for my father. 

* Dr. Beattie was so kindly entertained in England, that he had not yet re- 
turned home. 

f Di*. Johnson's burgess -ticket was ift these words : 

" Aberdonise, vigesimo tertio die meiisis Augusti, anno Domini millesimo 
septingentesimo septuagesimo tertio, in pvesentia honorabilium virorum, Jacobi 
Jopp, armigeri, prsepositi, Adami Duff Gulielmi Young, Georgii Marr, et 
Gulielmi Forbes, Balivorunn, Gulielmi Rainie Decani guildse, e. J .annis Nicoll 
Thesaurarii dicti burgi. 

"Quo die vir generosus et doctrina clarus, Samuel Johnson, L. L. D. recep- 
tus et admissus fuit in municipes et fratres guildse prxfan burgi de Aberdeen. In 
deditissima amoris et affectus ac eximise observantioe tesseram, quibus dicti Mar 
gistratus eum amplectuntur. Extractum per me, 

Alex. Cakkeoie.'* 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 73 

While Sir Alexander Gordon conducted Dr. John- 
son to old Aberdeen, Professor Gordon and I called on 
Mr. Riddoch, \i^hom I found to be a grave worthy cler- 
gyman. He observed, that whatever might be said of 
Dr. Johnson while he was alive, he would, after he was 
dead, be looked upon by the world with regard and as- 
tonishment, on account of his Dictionary. 

Professor Gordon and I walked over to the Old Col- 
lege, which Dr. Johnson had seen by this time. I step- 
ped into the chapel, and looked at the tomb of the foun- 
der. Archbishop Elphinston, of whom I shall have oc- 
casion to write in my History of James IV, of Scotland, 
the patron of my family. 

We dined at Sir Alexander Gordon's. The Pro- 
vost, Professor Ross, Professor Dunbar, Professor Tho- 
mas Gordon, were there. After dinner came in Dr. 
Gerard, Professor Leslie, Professor Macleod. We had 
little or no conversation in the morning ; now we were 
but barren. The professors seemed afraid to speak. 

Dr. Gerard told us that an eminent printer was very 
intimate with Warburton. — Johnson. " Why, sir, he 
has printed some of his works, and perhaps bought the 
property of some of them. The intimacy is such as 
one of the professors here may have with one of the car- 
penters who is repairing the college." — " But, (said Ge- 
rard,) I saw a letter from him to this printer, in which 
he says, that the one half of the clergy of the church of 
Scotland are fanaticks, and the other half infidels." — - 
Johnson. " Warburton has accustomed himself to write 
letters just as he speaks, without thinking any more of 
what he throws out. When I read Warburton first, 
and observed his force, and his contempt of mankind, 
I thought he had driven the world before him ; but I 



74f JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

soon found that was not the case ; for Warburton, by 
extending his abuse, rendered it ineffectual." 

He told me, when we were by ourselves, that he 
thought it very wrong in the printer, to shew Warbur- 
ton's letter, as it was raising a body of enemies against 
him. He thought it foolish in Warburton to write so 
to the printer ; and added, " Sir, the worst way of being 
intimate, is by scribbling." He called Warburton's 
" Doctrine of Grace" a poor performance, and so he 
said was Wesley's Answer. " Warburton, he observ- 
ed had laid himself very open. In particular, he was 
weak enough to say, that, in some disorders of the ima- 
gination, people had spoken with tongues, had spoken 
languages which they never knew before ; a thing as 
absurd as to say, that in some disorders of the imagi- 
nation, people had been known to fly." 

I talked of the difference of genius, to try if I could 
engage Gerard in a disquisition with Dr. Johnson, but 
I did not succeed; I mentioned as a curious fact, that 
Lock had written verses. — Johnson. " I know of none, 
sir, but a kind of exercise prefixed to Dr. Sydenham's 
Works, in which he has some conceits about the drop- 
sy, in which water and burning are united ; and how 
Dr. Sydenham removed fire by drawing off water, con- 
trary to the usual practice, which is to. extinguish fire 
by bringing water upon it. — I am not sure that there is 
a word of all this; but it is such kind of talk."* 

• All this, as Dr. Johnson suspected at the time, was the immediate inven- 
tion of hie own lively imagination , for there is not one word of it in Mr. Lock's 
complimentary performance. My readers will, I have no doubt, like to be satis- 
fied, by comparing them ; and, at any rate, it may entertain to read verses com- 
posed by our great metaphysician, when a Bachelor in Physick. 

AUCTORI, IN Tractattjm ejus de Febribjjs, 

Febrilus astus, •victumgue ardoribus orbem. 
Fkvit, non tantis^ar Medicina malis. 



>TO THE HEBRIDES. ^^^ 75 

We spoke of Fingal. Dr. Johnson said calmly, " If 
the poems were really translated, they were certainJv 



JTani post milie ai'tes, medica tentamina curx, 

Ardet adhuc Febris ; nee nielit arte regi. 
JPrxda sumits flaonmis ; solum hoc speravius ab ign^, 

Ut restet paucus, qucTn capit urna, cinis. 
Dtini quxrit medicus febris caussamqtie, modumque, 

Flammarutn iJf tenebras, iS" sine luce faces; 
^as tractat patitur fiamnias, \Sffebre calescens, 

Corruit ipse suis mctima raptafocis. 
^ui tardos potuit vnarbos, artusque trementes, 

Sistere,febrHi se videt igne rapi. 
Sicfaber exesosfilcit tibicine mures; 'fj- 

Dum, trahit antiquas lenta ruina domos, 
Sed si flaTnona iiorax miseras incenderit ades, 

Unica jiagr antes tunc sepeliresalus. 
Fitfuga, tectonicas nemo tunc invocat artes.; 

Cum perit artificis non mmus usta domus. - 
Se tandem SyAex\h2^vafebrisque Scholxqueftirori 

Opponens, onorbi qmerit, ISf artis ope7ti. 
Non temere incitsat tectce putedinis ignes; 

Nee fetus, febres quifovet, hmnor erit. 
Non bilemille niovet, nulla hie pituita; Salutis 

^tce spes, sifallax ardeat intus aqua ? 
Nee doetas magna rixas ostentat hiatu, " 

^uis ipsis major febribus ardor inest. 
Innociias placide corpus jubet urerefainmas. 

Ft justo rapidos temper at ignefocos. 
^idfebrim exstinguat, varius quid postulat usiis, 

Solari cegrotos, qua pates arte, docet. 
Hactenus ipsa suum timuit Natura ealarem, 

Dum sape incertOyquo calet, igne perit ■• 
Dum reparat tacitos m,ale provida sanguinis ignes, 

P)-(elusitbtisto, fit calor iste rogus. 
yaon secura suasfuveant praeordiaflamonas, 

^lem Natura tiegat, dat Medicina onodutn. 
Nee solumfaciles compescit sanguinis testus, 

Dum dubia est inter spemque metumque saius ; 
Stdfatale m,alum domuit, quodque astra malignimi 

Credimus, iratam vel genuisse Stygem. 
Mxtorft Lachesi cidtros, Pestique venenuTn 

Abstulit, ijf ta'ntos non sinit esse metus. 
^iis tandem, arte nova domitain oniteseere Pestem 

Crxdat, bf antiquasjionere posse minas? 



76 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

first written down. Let Mr. Macpherson deposite the 
manuscript in one of the colleges at Aberdeen, where 
there are people who can judge ; and, if the professors 
certify the authenticity, then there will be an end of the 
controversy. If he does not take this obvious and easy 
method, he gives the best reason to doubt ; consider- 
ing too, how much is against it a priori. 

We sauntered after dinner in Sir Alexander's gar- 
den, and saw his little grotto, which is hung with pieces 
of poetry written in a fair hand. It was agreeable to 
observe the contentment and kindness of this quiet, be. 
nevolent man. Professor Macleod was brother to Mac- 
leod of Talisker, and brother-in-law to the Laird of Col. 
He gave me a letter to young Col. I was weary of 
this day, and began to think wishfully of being again in 
motion. I was uneasy to think myself too fastidious, 
whilst I fancied Dr. Johnson quite satisfied. But he 
owned to me that he was fatigued and teased by Sir 
Alexander's doing too much to entertain him. I said, 
it was all kindness. — Johnson. " True, sir : but sen- 
sation is sensation." — Boswell. "It is so : we feel 
pain equally from the surgeon's probe, as from the 
sword of the foe." 

We visitedtwo booksellers' shops, and could notfind 
Arthur Johnston's Poems. We went and sat near an hour 



Post tot mille neces, cuniulataqtiefunera busto, 

Victajacet, parvo vulnere, dira Lues. 
Mtherice quanquam spargunt contagia fiamtnis-, 

^dcqiiid inest istis ignibus, ignis erit. 
Delapsce cceloflaimme licet acrius iirant. 

Has gelida cxstingui non nisi inorte putas ? 
Til meliora paras victrix' Medicina ,- tuusque, 

Pestis quce super at cuncta, triiimphus eris. 
Vi've liber, victisjebrilibus igtiibtts ; iinus 

Te sioniil {jJ* mimdiim qui onmiet, igjiis erit. 

J. LOCK, A. M. Ex. Aede Chrjsti, Oxon. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 77 

at Mr. Riddoch's. He could not tell distinctly how much 
education at the college here costs, which disgusted 
Dr. Johnson. I had pledged myself that we should go 
to the inn, and not stay supper. They pressed us, but 
he was resolute. I saw Mr. Riddoch did not please 
him. He said to me, afterwards, " Sir, he has no vi- 
gour in his talk." But my friend should have consi- 
dered that he himself was not in good humour ; so that 
it was not easy to talk to his satisfaction. — We sat con- 
tentedly at our inn. He then became merry, and ob- 
served how little we had either heard or said at Aber- 
deen : That the Aberdonians had not started a single 
mawkin (the Scottish word for hare) for us to pursue. 



Tuesday^ 2A>th August. 

We set out about eight in the morning, and break- 
fasted at Ellon. The landlady said to me, " Is not this 
the great Doctor, that is going about through the coun- 
try ?" — I said, " Yes." — " Ay, (said she,) we heard 
of him, I made an errand into the room on purpose to 
see him. There's something great in his appearance : 
it is a pleasure to have such a man in one's house; a 
man who does so much good. If I had thought of it, 
I would have shewn him a child of mine, who has had 
a lump on his throat for some tinle." — " But, (said I,) 
he is not a doctor of physick." — " Is he an oculist ?" 
said the landlord. — " No, (said I,) he is only a very 
learned man." — Landlord. " They say he is the 
greatest man in England, except Lord Mansfield." 
— Dr. Johnson was highly entertained with this, and I 
do think he was pleased too. He said, " I like the ex- 
beption ; to have called me the greatest man in Eng- 
land, would hav€ bee» an unmeaning compliment : but 



78 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

the exception marked that the praise was in earnest ; 
and, in Scotland, the exception must be Lord Mansfield, 
or — Sir John Pringle.^^ 

He told me a good story of Dr. Goldsmith. Gra- 
ham, who wrote *' Telemachus, a Masque," was sit- 
ting one night with him and Dr. Johnson, and was half 
dnuik. He rattled away to Dr. Johnson : " You are a 
clever fellow, to be sure ; but you cannot write an es- 
say like Addison, or verses like the Rape oftheLock.''^ 
At last he said,* " Doctor, I should be happy to see 
you at Eaton."- — " I shall be glad to wait on you," an- 
swered Goldsmith. — " No, (said Graham,) 'tis not you 
I mean. Dr. Minor ; 'tis Dr. Major, there." — Gold- 
smith was excessively hurt by this. He afterwards 
spoke of it himself. " Graham, (said he,) is a fellow to 
make one commit suicide." 

We had received a polite invitation to Slains castle. 
We arrived there just at three o'clock, as the bell for 
dinner was ringing. Though, from its being just on 
the North-east Ocean, no trees will grow here. Lord 
Errol has done all that can be done. He has cultivated 
his fields so as to bear rich crops of every kind, and he 
has made an excellent kitchen- garden, with a hot-house. 
I had never seen any of the family ; but there had been 
a card of invitation written by the honourable Charles 
Boyd, the earl's brother. We were conducted into the 
house, and at the dining-room door were met by that 
gentleman, whom both of us at first took to be lord Er- 
rol ; but he soon corrected our mistake. My lord was 

* I am sure I have related this story exactly as Dr. Johnson told it tome ; but 
a friend who has often heard him tetl it, informs ine that he usually introduced 
a circumstance which ought not to be omitted. " At last, sir, Graham, having 
now got to about the pitch of looking at one man, and talking to another, said, 
Doctor, &c." " What effect (Dr. Johnson used to add) this had on Goldsmith, 
■who vas as irascible as a homgt, muy be easily conceived-" 



>t^"^ 



to THE HEBRIDES. 79 

g'one to dine in the neighbourhood, at an entertainment 
given by Mr. Irvine of Drum. Lady Errol received 
us politely, and was very attentive to us during the time 
of dinner. There was nobody at table but her ladyship, 
Mr. Boyd, and some of the children, their governour 
and governess. Mr. Boyd put Dr. Johnson in mind of 
having dined with him at Gumming the Quaker's, along 
with a Mr. Hall and Miss Williams : this was a bond 
of connection between them. For me, Mr. Boyd's ac- 
quaintance with my father was enough. After dinner, 
Lady Errol favoured us with a sight of her young fa- 
mily, whom she made stand up in a row. There were 
six daughters and two sons. It was a very pleasing 
sight. 

Dr. Johnson proposed our setting out. Mr. Boyd 
said, he hoped we would stay all night ; his brother 
would be at home in the evening, and would be very 
sorry if he missed us. Mr. Boyd was called out of the 
room. I was very desirous to stay ia so comfortable a 
house, and I wished to see Lord Errol. Dr. Johnson, 
however, was right in resolving to go, if we were not- 
asked again, as it is Best to err on the safe side in such 
cases, and to be sure that one is quite welcome. To 
my great joy, when Mr. Boyd returned, he told Dr„ 
Johnson that it was Lady Errol who had called him out, 
and said that she would never let Dr. Johnson into the 
house again, if he went away that night ; and that she 
had ordered the coach, to carry us to view a great cu- 
riosity on the coast, after w^hich we should see the house. 
We cheerfully agreed. 

Mr. Boyd was engaged, in 1745-6, on the same side 
with many unfortunate mistaken noblemen and gentle- 
men. He escaped, and lay concealed for a year in the 
island ©f Arran, the ancient territorv of the Bovds, He 



^ .'i-i JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

then went to France, and was about twenty years on the 
continent. He married a French lady, and now lived 
very comfortably at Aberdeen, and was much at Slains 
castle. He entertained us with great civility. He 
had a pompousness or formal plenitude in his con- 
versation, which I did not dislike. Dr. Johnson said, 
" there was too much elaboration in his talk." It gave 
me pleasure to see him, a steady branch of the family, 
setting forth all its advantages with much zeal. He 
told us that Lady Errol was one of the most pious and 
sensible women in the island ; had a good head, and as 
good a heart. He said, she did not use force or fear in 
educating her children. — Johnson. " Sir, she is wrong ; 
I would rather have the rod to be the general terror to 
all, to make them learn, than tell a child, if you do thus 
or thus, you will be more esteemed than your brothers 
or sisters. The rod produces an effect which terminates 
in itself. A child is afraid of being whipped, and gets 
his task, and there's an end on't ; whereas, by exciting 
emulation, and comparisons of superiority, you lay the 
foundation of lasting mischief ; you make brothers and 
sisters hate each other." 

During Mr. Boyd's stay in Arran, he had found a 
chest of medical books, left by a surgeon there, and had 
read them till he acquired some skill in physick, in con- 
sequence of which he is often consulted by the poor. 
There were several here waiting for him as patients. 
'We walked round the house till stopped by a cut made 
by the influx of the sea. The house is built quite upon 
the shore ; the windows look upon the main ocean, and 
the King of Denmark is Lord Errol's nearest neighbour 
on the north-east. 

We got immediately into the coach, and drove to 
Dunbui, a rock near the shore, quite covered with sea- 



,;>.i.:y 



TO THE HEBRIDES. , $1 



fowls; then to a circular bason of large extent, sur- 
rounded with tremendous rocks. On the quarter next 
the sea, there is a high arch in the rock, which the force 
of the tempest has driven out. This place is called 
Buchari's Buller, or the Buller of Buchan^ and the coun- 
try people call it the Pot. Mr. Boyd said it was so 
called from the French Bouloir. It may be more sim- 
ply traced from Boiler in our own language. We walk- 
ed round this monstrous cauldron. In some places the 
rock is very narrow; and on each side there is a sea 
deep enough for a man of war to ride in ; so that it is 
somewhat horrid to move along. However, there is 
earth and grass upon the rock, and a kind of road mark- 
ed out by the print of feet ; so that one makes it out 
pretty safely: yet it alarmed me to see Dr. Johnson 
striding irregularly along. He insisted on taking a boat 
and sailing into the Pot. We did so. He was stout, 
and wonderfully alert. The Buchanmen all shewing 
their teeth, and speaking with that strange sharp accent 
which distinguishes them, was to me a matter of curio- 
sity. He was not sensible of the difference of pronun- 
ciation in the south and North of Scotland, which I wonr 
dered at. 

As the entry into the Buller is so narrow that oars 
cannot be used as you go in, the method taken is, to 
row very hard when 3^ou come near it, and give the 
boat such a rapidity of motion that it glides in. Dr. 
Johnson observed what an effect this scene would have 
had, were we entering into an unknown place. There 
%re caves of considerable depth ; I think, one on each 
side. The boatmen had never entered either of th^em 
far enough to know the size. Mr. Bo} d told us that it 
is customary for the company at Peterhead well, to 

M 



m , ^ ,^ JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

make parties, and come and dine in one of the caves 
here. 

He told us, that, as Slains is at a considerable dis- 
tance from Aberdeen, Lord Errol, who has a very large 
family, resolved to have a surgeon of his own. With 
this view he educated one of his tenants' sons, Avho is 
now settled in a very neat house and farm just by, which 
we saw from the road. By the salary which the earl 
allows him, and the practice which he has had, he is in 
very easy circumstances. He had kept an exact ac- 
count of all that had been laid out on his education, and 
he came to his lordship one day and told him that he 
had arrived at a much higher situation than ever he ex- 
pected ; that he was now able to repay what his lordship 
had advanced, and begged he would accept of it. The 
earl was pleased with the generous gratitude and gen- 
teel offer of the man; but refused it. — Mr. Boyd also 
told us, Gumming the Quaker first began to distinguish 
himself, by writing against Dr. Leechman on Prayer, to 
prove it unnecessary, as God knows best what should 
be, and will order it without our asking: the old hack- 
neyed objection. 

When we returned to the house we found coffee and 
tea in the drawing-room. Lady Errol was not there, 
being, as I supposed, engaged with her young family. 
There is a bow window fronting the sea. Dr. Johnson 
repeated the ode, Jam satis terrisy while Mr. Boyd was 
with his patients. He spoke well in favour of entails, 
to preserve lines of men whom mankind are accustom- 
ed to reverence. His opinion was, that so much land 
should be entailed as that families should never fall into 
contempt, and as much left free as to give them all the 
advantages of property in case of any emergency. " If, 
(said hcj) the nobihty are suffered to sink into indigence, 



TO THE HEBRIDES. , ^^ 

they of course become corrupt; they are ready to do 
whatever the king chooses ; therefore it is fit they should 
be kept from becoming poor, unless it is fixed that when 
they fall below a certain standard of wealth they shall 
lose their peerages. We know the house of Peers have 
made noble stands, when the House of Commons durst 
not. The two last years of a parliament they dare not 
contradict the populace." 

This room is ornamented with a number of fine 
prints, and a whole length picture of Lord Errol, by Sir 
Joshua Reynolds. This led Dr. Johnson and me to talk 
of our amiable and elegant friend, whose panygerick he 
concluded by saying, " Sir Joshua Reynolds, sir, is the 
most invulnerable man I know ; the man with whom if 
you should quarrel, you would find the most difficulty 
how to abuse." 

. Dr. Johnson, observed, the situation here was the 
noblest he had ever seen, — better than Mount Edge- 
cumbe, reckoned the first in England ; because, at 
Mount Edgecumbe, the sea is bounded by land on the 
other side, and, though there is there the grandeur of 
a fleet, there is also the impression of there being a 
dock-yard, the circumstances of which are not agreea- 
ble. At Slains is an excellent old house. The noble 
owner has built of brick, along the square in the inside 
a gallery, both on the first and second story, the house 
being no higher ; so that he has always a dry walk ; and 
the rooms, to which formerly there was no approach 
but th^^ugh each other, have now all separate entries 
from the gallery,, which is hung with Hogarth's works, 
and other prints. We went and sat a vvhile -in the li- 
brary. There is a valuable numerous collection. It 
was chiefly made by Mr. Falconer, husband to the late 



84. JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

Countess of Errol in her own right. This earl has 
added a good many modem books. 

About nine the Earl Came home. Captain Gordon 
of Park was with him. His lordship put Dr, Johnson 
in mind of their haying dined together in London, 
along with Mr. Beauclerk. I was exceedingly plea- 
sed with Lord Errol. His dignified person and agree- 
able countenance, with the most unaffected affability, 
gave me high satisfaction. From perhaps a weakness, 
or, as I rather hope, more fancy and warmth of feeling 
than is quite reasonable, my mind is ever impressed 
with admiration for persons of high birth, and I could, 
with the most perfect honesty, expatiate on Lord ErroPs 
good qualities ; but he stands in no need of my praise. 
His agreeable manners and softness of address prevent- 
ed that constraint which the idea of his being Lord 
High Constable of Scotland might otherwise have occaT 
sioned. He talked very easily and sensibly with his 
learned guest. I observed that Dr. Johnson, though he 
shewed that respect to his lordship, which, from prin- 
ciple, he always does to high rank, yet, when they came 
to argument, maintained that manliness which becomes 
the force and vigour of his understanding. To shew 
external deference to our superiors, is proper : to seem 
to yield to them in opinion, is meanness.* The earl 

* Lord Chesterfield, in his letters to his son , complains of one who argued in 
an indiscriminate manner with men of all ranks. Probably the noble lord had 
felt with some uneasiness what it was to encounter stronger abilities than his 
own. If a peer will engage at foils with his inferior in station, he n^<st expect 
that his inferior in station will avail himself of every advantage ; otherwise it is 
not a fair trial of strength and skill. The same will hold in a contest of reason, 
or of wit. — A certain king of Prussia entered the lists of genius with Voltaire. 
The consequence was, that, though the king had great and brilliant talents, 
Voltaire had such a superiority that his majesty could not bear it ; and the poet 
was dismissed, or escaped from that court. — In the reign of James I, of Eng- 
land, Crichton, Lord Sanquhar, a peer of Scotland, from a Vain ambition to esr- 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 85 

said grace, both before and after supper, with much de- 
cency. He told us a story of a man who was executed 
at Perth, some years ago, for murdering a woman who 
was with child by him, and a former child he had by 
her. His hand was cut off: he was then pulled up; 
but the rope broke, and he was forced to lie an hour on 
the ground, till another rope was brought from Perth, 
the execution being in a wood at some distance, — at 
the place where the murders were committed. " There 
(said my lord,) I see the hand of Providence.'^'' — I was 
really happy here. I saw in this nobleman the best 
dispositions and best principles ; and I saw him, in my 
mind''s eye, to be the representative of the ancient 
Boyds of Kilmarnock. I was afraid he might have 
urged drinking, as I believe, he used formerly to do, 
but he drank port and water out of a large glass him- 
self, and let us do as we pleased. He went with us to 
our rooms at night ; said, he took the visit very kindly ; 
and told me, my father and he were very old acquaint- 
ance ; — that I now knew the way to Slains, and he 
hoped to see me there again. 

I had a most elegant room ; but there was a fire in 
ic which blazed ; and the sea, to which my window^s 
looked, roared ; and the pillows were made of the fea- 
thers of some sea-fowl, which had to me a disagreeable 
smell : so that, by all these causes, I was kept awake 
a good while. I saw, in imagination. Lord Errol's fa- 



cel a fencing -master in his own art, played at rapier and dagger with hira. The 
fencing -master, whose fame and bread were at stake, put out one of his lord- 
ship's eyes. Exasperated at this, Lord Sanquhar hired ruffians, and had the 
fencing-master assassinated ; for which his lordship was capitally tried, condemn- 
ed, and hanged. Not being a peer of England, he was tried by the name of 
Robert Crichton, Esq; but he was admitted to be a baron of three hundred 
years standing. — See the State Trials ; and the History of England by Hume, 
who applauds the impartial justice executed upon a ipan of high rank. 



86 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

ther, Lord Kilmarnock, (who was beheaded on Tower- 
hill in 1746,) and I was somewhat dreary. But the 
thought did not last long, and I fell asleep. 

Wednesday^ 25th August. 

We got up between seven and eight, and found 
Mr. Boyd in the dining-room, with tea and coffee be- 
fore him, to give us breakfast. We were in an admi- 
rable humour. Lady Errol had given each of us a 
copy of an ode by Beattie, on the birth of her son, Lord 
Hay. Mr. Boyd asked Dr. Johnson how he liked it. 
Dr. Johnson, who did not admire it, got off very well, 
by taking it out, and reading the second and third stan- 
zas of it with much melody. This, without his saying 
a word, pleased Mr. Boyd. He observed, however, 
to Dr. Johnson, that the expression as to the family of 
Errol, 

" A thousand years have seen it shine." 

compared with what went before, was an anticlimax, 
and that it would have been better 

Ages have seen, Stc 

Dr. Johnson said, " So great a number as a thousand is 
better. Dolus latet in universalibus. Ages might be 
only two ages." — He talked of the advantage of keep- 
ing up the connections of relationship, which produce 
much kindness. " Every man, (said he,) who comes 
into the world, has need of friends. If he has to get 
them for himself, half his life is spent, before his merit 
is known. Relations are a man's ready friends who 



yCO THE HEBRIBES. &t^ 

aupport him. When a man is in real distress, he flies 
into the arms of his relations. An old lawyer, who had 
much experience in making wills, told me, that after 
people had deliberated long, and thought of many for 
their executors, they settled at last by fixing on their 
relations. This shews the universality of the prin- 
ciple." 

- I regretted the decay of respect for men of family, 
and that a Nabob now would carry an election from 
them. — Johnson. " Why sir, the Nabob will carry it 
by means of his wealth, in a country where money is 
highly valued, as it must be where nothing can be had 
without money ; but if it comes to personal preference, 
the man of family will always carry it. There is ge- 
nerally a scoundrelism about a low man." — Mr. Boyd 
said, that was a good ism, 

I said, I believed mankind were happier in the an- 
cient feudal state of subordination, than they are in the 
modern state of independency. — Johnson. " To be 
sure, the Chief wsls : but we must think of the number 
of individuals. That the?/ were less happy, seems plain ; 
for that state from which all escape as soon as they can, 
and to which none return after they have left it, must 
be less happy ; and this is the case with the state of de- 
pendance on a chief or great man." 

I mentioned the happiness of the French in their 
subordination, by the reciprocal benevolence and attach- 
ment between the great and those in lower rank. — Mr. 
Boyd gave us an instance of their gentlemanly spirit. 
An old Chevalier de Malthe, of ancient noblesse^ but in 
low circumstances, was in a coffee-house at Paris, 
where was Julien^ the great Manufacturer at the Gobe- 
lins, of the fine tapestry, so much distinguished both 
fiM: the figures and the colours. The chevalier's car- 



'«8 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

riage was very old. Says Julien, with a plebeian inso- 
lence, " I think, sir, you had better have your carriage 
new painted." The chevalier looked at him with indig- 
nant contempt, and answered, " Well, sir, you may 
take it home and dye it !" — All the cofFee-house rejoic- 
ed at Julien's confusion. 

We set out about nine. Dr. Johnson was curious 
to see one of those structures which northern antiqua- 
rians call a Druid's temple. I had a recollection of one 
at Strichen, which I had seen fifteen years ago; so we 
went four miles out of our road, after passing Old Deer, 
and went thither. Mr. Frasei^, the proprietor, was at 
home, and shewed it to us. But I had augmented it in 
my mind ; for all that remains is two stones set up on 
end, with a long one laid upon them, as was usual, and 
one stone at a little distance from them. That stone 
was the capital one of the circle which surrounded what 
now remains. Mr. Fraser was very hospitable.* There 
was a fair at Strichen ; and he had several of his neigh- 
bours from it at dinner. One of them, Dr. Fraser, 
who had been in the army, remembered to have seen 
Dr. Johnson at a lecture on experimental philosophy, 

* He is the worthy son of a worthy father, the late Lord Strichen, one of our 
judges, to whose kind notice I was much obliged. Lord Strichen was a man 
not only honest, but highly generous ; for, after his succession to the family es- 
tate he paid a large sum of debts contracted by his predecessor, which he was 
not under any obligation to pay. Let me here, for the credit of Ayrshire, my 
own county, record a noble instance of liberal honesty in William Hutchison, 
drover, in Lanehead, Kyle, who formerly obtained a full discharge from his cre- 
ditors, upon a composition of his debts ; but, upon being restored to good circum- 
stances, invited his creditors last winter to a dinner, without telling the reason, 
and paid them their full sums, principal and interest. They presented him with 
a piece of plate, with an inscription to commemorate this extraordinary instance 
of true worth ; which should make some people in Scotland blush, while, though 
mean themselves, they strut about under the protection of great alliance, consci- 
ous of the wretchedness of numbers who have lost by them, to whom they never 
xhink of making reparation, but indulge themselves and their families in mogt 
'4n suitable expence. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 8^ 

at Lichfield. The doctor recollected being at the lec- 
ture ; and he was surprised to find here somebody 
who knew him. 

Mr. Fraser sent a servant to conduct us by a shorfe, 
passage into the high road. I observed to Dr. Johnson,- 
that I had a most disagreeable notion of the life of 
country gentlemen ; that I left Mr. Fraser just now, as 
one leaves a prisoner in a jail. — Dr. Johnson said, that 
I was right in thinking them unhappy ; for that they 
had not enough to keep their minds in motion. 

I started a thought this afternoon which amused us 
a great part of the way. " If, (said I,) our club should 
come and set up in St. Andrews, as a college, to teach 
all that each of us can, in the several departments of 
learning and taste, we should rebuild the city: we 
should draw a wonderful concourse of students." — 
Dr. Johnson entered fully into the spirit of this project. 
We immediately fell to distributing the offices. I was 
to teach civil and Scotch law; Burke, politicks and 
eloquence ; Garrick the art of publick speaking ; Lang- 
ton was to be our Grecian, Colman our Latin profes- 
sor; Nugent to teach physick ; Lord Charlemont, mo- 
dern history ; Beauclerk, natural philosophy ; Vesey, 
Irish antiquities, or Celtic k learning;* Jones, Oriental 
learning ; Goldsmith, poetry and ancient history ; 
Chamier, commercial politicks; Reynolds, painting, 
and the arts which have beauty for their object ; Cham- 
bers, the law of England. Dr. Johnson at first said, 

* Since the first edition, it has been suggested by one of the club, who knew 
Mr. Vesey better than Dr. Johnson and I, that we did not assign him a proper 
place; for he was quite unskilled in Iribh antiquities and Celtick learning, but 
might with propriety have been made professor of architecture, which he under- 
stood well J and has left a very good specimen of his knowledge and taste in that 
art, by an elegant house built on a plan of his own foi-mation, at Lttcan, a few 
miles from Dublin. 



^ JOURNAL QF A TOUR 

*^I'll trust theology to nobody but myself." But, up- 
on due consideration, that Percy is a clergyman, it was 
agreed that Percy should teach practical divinity and 
British antiquities ; Dr. Johnson himself, logick, meta- 
physicks and scholastick divinity. In this manner did 
we amuse ourselves ; — each suggesting, and each vary- 
ing or adding, till the whole was adjusted. Dr. John- 
son said, we only wanted a mathematician since Dyer 
died, who was a very good one ; but as to every thing 
else, we should have a very capital university.* 

We got at night to Banff. I sent Joseph on to 
Duff- home : but Earl Fife was not at home, which 
I regretted much, as we should have had a very ele- 
gant reception from his lordship. We found here but 
an indifferent inn.f Dr. Johnson wrote a long letter 

* Our clubj originally at the Turk's Head, Gerrard street, then at Prince's, 
Sackville -street, now at Baxter's, Dover street, which at Mr. Garrick's funeral 
acquired a name for the first tinae, and was called The Literary Club, was. 
instituted in 1764, and consists of thirty -five members, beyond which number, by 
a late rule, it cannot be extended- It has, since 1773, been greatly augmented ; 
and though Dr. Johnson with justice observed, that, by losing Goldsmith, Gar- 
rick, Nugent, Chamier, Beauclerk, we had lost what would make an eminent 
club, yet when I mention, as an accession, Mr. Fox, Dr. George Fordyce, Sir 
Charles Bunbury, Lord Ossory, Mr. Gibbon, Dr. Adam Smith, M. R. B. Sheri- 
dan, the Bishops of Kilaloe and St. Asaph, Dean Marlay, Mr. Steevens, Mr. 
Dunning, Sir Joseph Banks, Dr. Scott of the Commons, Earl Spencer, Mr. 
Windham of Norfolk, Lord Elliott, Mr. Malone, Dr. Joseph Warton, the Rev., 
Thomas Warton, Lord Lucan, Mr. Burke, junior. Lord Palmerston, Dr. Bur- 
ney. Sir William Hamilton, and Dr. Warren, it will be acknowledged that we 
might establish a second university of high reputation. 

•j- Here, unluckily the windows had no pullies; and Dr. Johnson, who was 
constantly eager for fresh air, had much struggling to get one of them kept open. 
Thus he had a notion impressed upon him, that this wretched defect was general 
ifl Scotland ; in consequence of which he has erroneously enlarged upon it in his 
"Journey." I regretted that he did not allow me to read over his book before it 
was printed. I should have changed very little ; but I should have suggested an 
alteration in a few places where he has laid himself open to be attacked. - I hope 
I should have prevailed with him to omit or soften his assertion, that " a Scots.. 
man must be a sturdy moralist, who does not prefer Scotland to truth," — for I 
se^y think it is not founded ; and it is harshly said. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 9^ 

to Mrs. Thrale. I wondered to see him write so much 
so easily. He verified his own doctrine, that "a man 
may always write when he will set himself doggedly 
to it."* 

Thursday, 26th August, 

We got a fresh chaise here, a very good one and 
very good horses. We breakfasted at CuUen. They 
set down dried haddocks broiled, along with our tea. 
I ate one; but Dr. Johnson was disgusted by the 
sight of them, so they were removed. Cullen has a 
comfortable appearance, though but a very small town, 
and the houses mostly poor buildings. 

I called on Mr, Robertson, who has the charge of 
Lord Findlater's affairs, and was formerly Lord Mon- 
boddo's clerk, was three times in France with him, and 
translated Condamine's Account of the Savage Girl, to 
which his lordship wrote a prefafce, containing several 
remarks of his own. Robertson said, he did not believe 
so much as his lordship did , that it was plain to him, 
the girl confounded what she imagined with what she 
remembered : that, besides, she perceived Condamine 
and Lord Monboddo forming theories, and she adapted 
her story to them. 

Dr. Johnson said, " It is a pity to see Lord Monbod- 
do publish such notions as he has done; a man of sense, 
and of so much elegant learning. There would be little 
in a fool doing it; we should only laugh; but when a 
wise man does it, we are sorry. Other people have 
strange notions ; but they conceal them. If they have 

* This word is commonly used to signify sullenly, gloomily ; and in that sense 
alone it appears in Dr. Johnson's Dictionary. I suppose he meant by it, in the 
conversation related in |). 33, "with an o^^toafe resolution, similar to that of a 
sullen map.^' 



»* 



92 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

tails, they hide them; but Monboddo is as jealous of his 
tail as a squirrel." — I shall here put down some more 
remarks of Dr. Johnson's on Lord Monbx)ddo, which 
were not made exactly at this time, but come in well 
from connection. He said, he did not approve of a 
judge's calling himself Farmer Burnett,* and going 
about with a little rouixl hat. He laughed heartily at 
his lordship's saying he was an enthusiastical farmer ; 
*' for, (said he,) what can he do in farming by his enthu- 
siasm ?"' Here, however, I think Dr. Johnson mistaken. 
He who wishes to be successful, or happy, ought to be 
enthusiastical, that is to say, very keen in all the occu- 
pations or diversions of life. An ordinary gentleman- 
farmer will be satisfied with looking at his fields once 
or twice a day: an endiusiastical farmer will be con- 
stantly employed on them; — ivill have his mind earnest- 
ly engaged ; — will talk perpetually of them. But Dr. 
Johnson has much of the nil admirari in sm-.ller con- 
cerns. That surve}' of life which gave birth to his 
Vanity of Human Wishes early sobered his mind. Be- 
sides so great a mind as his cannot be moved by inferior 
objects : an elephant does not run and skip like lesser 
animals. 

Mr. Robertson sent a servant with us, to shew us 
through Lord Findlater's wood, by which our way was 
shortened, and we saw some part of his domain, which 
is indeed admirably laid out. Dr. Johnson did not 
choose to walk through it. He always said, that he was 
not come to Scotland to see fine places, of which there 

* It is the custom in Scotland for the judges of the Court of Session to have 
the title of lords ^ from their estates ; thus Mr. Burnett is Lord Monboddo, as Mr. 
Home was Lord Karnes. There is something a little awkward in this : for they are 
denominated in deeds by their names, with the addition of "one of the Senators 
of the College of Justice;" and subscribe their christian and su'm.name, as ^avies 
Surnett, Henry Home, even injudicial acts'.- 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 93 

were enough in England; but wild objects, — ^moun- 
tains, — water- falls, — peculiar manners ; in short, things 
which he had not seen before. I have a notion that he 
at no time has had much taste for rural beauties. I have 
myself very little. 

Dr. Johnson said, there was nothing more contemp- 
tible than a country gentleman living beyond his in- 
come, and every year growing poorer and jX)orer. He 
spoke strongly of the influence which a man has by 
being rich. " A man, (said he,) who keeps his money, 
has in reality more use from it, than he can have by 
spending it." I observed that this looked very like a 
paradox ; but he explained it thus: " If it were certain 
that a man would keep his money locked up for ever, 
to be sure he would have no influence : but, as so many 
want money, and he has the power of giving it, and they 
know not but by gaining his favour they may obtain it, 
the rich man will always have the greatest influence. 
He again who lavishes his money, is laughed at as fool- 
ish, and in a great degree with justice, considering how 
much is spent from vanity. Even those who partake 
of a man's hospitality, have but a transient kindness for 
him. If he has not the command of money, people 
know he cannot help them, if he would ; whereas, the 
rich man always can, if he will, and for the chance of 
that will have much weight." — Boswell. " But philo- 
sophers and satirists have all treated a miser as con- 
temptible." — Johnson. " He is so philosophically ; but 
not in the practice of life." — Boswell. " Let me see now. 
— I do not know the instances of misers in England, so 
as to examine into their influence." — Johnson. "We 
have had few misers in England." — Boswell. " There 
was Lowther." — Johnson. " Why, sir, Lowther, by 
keeping his money, had the command of the county^ 



94 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

which the family has now lost, by spending it.* I take 
it, he lent a great deal ; and that is the way to have in- 
fluence, and yet preserve one's wealth. A man may lend 
his money upon very good security, and yet have his 
debtor much under his power." — BoswelL " No doubt^ 
sir. He can always distress him for the money; as no 
man borrows, who is able to pay on demand quite con- 
veniently." 

We dined at Elgin, and saw the noble ruins of the 
cathedra). Though it rained much, Dr. Johnson exa- 
mined them with a most patient attention. He CQuld 
not here feel any abhorrence at the Scottish reformers, 
for he had been told by Lord Hailes, that it was destroy", 
ed before the Reformation, by the Lord of Badcnoch,f 
who had a quarrel with the bishop. The bishop's house, 
and those of the other clergy, which are still pretty en- 
tire, do not seem to have been proportioned to the mag- 
nificence of the cathedral, which has been of great ex- 
tent, and had very fine carved work. The ground with- 
in the walls of the cathedral is employed as a burying 
place. The family of Gordon have their vault here ; 
but it has nothing grand. 

We passed Gordon castlej this forenoon, which has 

* I do not know what was at this time the state of the parliamentary interest 
of the ancient family of Lowther ; a family before the Conquest ; but ail the na- 
tion knows it to be very extensive at present. A due mixture of severity and kind- 
ness, oeconomy and munificence, characterises its present Representative. 

f Note, by Lord Hailes. 

" The cathedral of Elgin was burnt by the Lord of Badenoch, because the 
Bishop of Moray had pronounced an award not to his liking. The indemnifica- 
tion that the see obtained, was, that the Lord of Badenoch stood- for three days 
bare-footed at the great gate of the cathedral. The story is in the chartulary of 
Elgin. 

:j: I am not sure whether the duke was at home. But, not having the honour 
6f being much known to his grace, I could not have presumed to enter his castle, 
though to introduce even so celebrated % stranger. We were at any rate in a hurry 



TO THE HEBRIDES, 9S 

a princely appearance. Fochabers, the neighbouring 
village, is a poor place, many of the houses being ruin- 
ous ; but it is remarkable, they have in general orchards 
well stored with apple-trees. Elgin has what in Eng^ 
land are called piazzas, that run in many places on each 
side of the street. It must have been a much better 
place formerly. Probably it had piazzas all along the 
town, as I have seen at Bologna. I approved much of 
such structures in a town, on account of their conve- 
niency in wet weather. Dr. Johnson disapproved of 
them, " because (said he) it makes the under story of 
a house very dark, which greatly overbalances the con- 
veniency, when it is considered how small a part of the 
year it rains ; how few are usually in the street at such 
times ; that many who are might as well be at home ; 
and the little that people suffer, supposing them to be as 
much wet as they commonly are hi walking a street." 

We fared but ill at our inn here ; and Dr. Johnson 
said, this was the first time he had seen a dinner in Scot- 
land that he could not eat. 

In the afternoon we drove over the very heath where 
Macbeth met the witches, according to tradition. Dr, 
Johnson again solemnly repeated — 

How far is't called to Fores ? What are these. 
So wither'd, and so wild in their attire I 
That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth, 
And yet are on't ? 

He repeated a good deal more of Macbetli, His recita=- 
tion3vas grand and affecting, and, as sir Joshua Rey- 

to get forward to the wildness which we came to see. Perhaps, if this noble fa- 
mily had still preserved that sequestered magnificence which they maintained, 
Avhen catholicks, corresponding with the Grand"l)uke of Tuscany, we might have 
been induced to have procured proper letters of introduction, and devoted some 
time" to the contemplation of venerable superstitions state. 



96- f JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

nolds has observed to me, had no more tone than it 
should have: it was the better for it. He then pa- 
rodied the All-hail of the witches to Macbeth, addres- 
sing himself to me. I had purchased some land call- 
[ cd Dalblair ; and, as in Scotland it is customary to 
distinguish landed men by the name of their estates, 
I had thus two titles, Dalhlair and Young Auchinleck. 
So my friend, in imitation of 

All hail Macbeth I hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor ! 

condescended to amuse himself with uttering 

All Hail Dalblair ! hail to tiiee, Laird of Auchinleck I 

We got to Fores at night, and found an admira- 
ble inn, in which Dr. Johnson was pleased to meet 
with a landlord who styled himself " Wine- Cooper, 
from London." 

Friday^ 21th August. 

It was dark when we came to Fores last night ; 
so we did not see what is called King Duncan's mo- 
nument. — I shall now mark some gleanings of Dr. 
Johnson's conversation. I spoke of Leonidas, and said 
there were some good passages in it. — Johnson. " Why, 
joM must seek for them." — He said, Paul Whitehead's 
Manners was a poor performance. — Speaking of Der- 
rick, he told me "he had a kindness for him, and had 
often said, that if his letters had been written by one of 
a more established name, they would have been thought 
very pretty letters." <• 

This morning I introduced the subject of the origin 



TO THE HEBRIDES, 97 

of evil. — Johnson. " Moral evil is occasioned by free 
will, which implies choice between good and evil. With 
all the evil that there is, there is no man but would 
rather be a free agent, than a mere machine without the 
evil ; and what is best for each individual, must be best 
for the whole. If a man would rather be the machine, 
I cannot argue with him. He is a different being from 
me." — Boswell. " A man, as a machine, may have 
agreeable sensations ; for instance, he may have pleasure 
in musick." — Johnson. " No, sir, he cannot have plea- 
sure in musick ; at least no power of producing 
musick ; for he who can produce musick may let it 
alone : he who can play upon a fiddle may break it : 
such a man is not a machine." This reasoning satisfi- 
ed me. It is certain, there cannot be a free agent, un- 
less there is the power of being evil as well as good. 
We must take the inherent possibilities of things into 
consideration, in our reasonings or conjectures concern- 
ing the works of God. 

We came to Nairn to breakfast. Though a county 
town and a royal burgh, it is a miserable place. Over 
the room where we sat, a girl was spinning wool with a 
great wheel, and singing an Erse song : " I'll warrant 
you, (said, Dr. Johnson,) one of the songs of Ossia^n." 
He then repeated these lines : 

" Verse sweetens toil, however rude the sound. 

. '* All at her work the village maiden sings ; 

" Nor, while she turns the giddy wheel around, 

" Revolves the sad vicissitudes of things." 

I thought I had heard these lines before. — Johnson. "I 
fancy not, sir ; for they are in a detached poem, the 
name of which I do not remember, written by one Gif- 
fard, a pardon." 

e 



9'Sr ' JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

I expected Mr. Kenneth M'Aulay, the minister of 
Calder, who published the History of St. Kilda, a book 
which Dr. Johnson hked, would have met us here, as I 
had -vmtten to him from Aberdeen. But I received a 
letter from Iiim, telling me that he could not leave home, 
as he was to administer the sacrament the following 
Sunday, and earnestly requesting to see us at his mause. 
"We'll go," said Dr. Johnson ; which we accordingly 
did. Mrs. M'Aulay received us, and told us her hus- 
band was in the church distributing tokens.* We ar- 
rived between twelve and one o'clock, and it was near 
three before he came to us. 

Dr. Johnson thanked him for his book, and said " it 
was a very pretty piece of topography." M'Aulay did 
not seem much to mind the compliment. From his 
conversation, Dr. Johnson was persuaded that he had 
not written the book which goes under his name. I 
myself always suspected so ; and I have been told it 
was written by the learned Dr. John M'Pherson of Sky, 
from the materials collected by M'Aulay. Dr. John- 
son said privately to me, "There is a combination in it 
of which M'Aulay is not capable." However, he was 
exceedingly hospitable ; and, as he obligingly promised 
us a route for our Tour through the Western Isles, we 
agreed to stay with him all night. 

After dinner, we walked to the old castle of Calder, 
(pronounced Cawder) the Thane of Cawdor's seat. I 
was sorry that my friend, this "prosperous gentleman," 

* 111 Scotland, there is a great deal of preparation before administering the 
sacrament. The minister of the parish examines the people as to their fitness, 
and to those of whom he approves gives little pieces of tin, stamped with the 
name of the parish, as tokens, which they must produce before receiving it. This 
is a species of priestly power and sometimes may be abused. I remember a law- 
suit brought by a person against his parish minister, for refusing him admission 
to that sacred ordinance. 



TO THE HEBRIDES, 99 

was not there. . The old tower mu^rilbf €>i great an- 
tiquity. There is a draw bridge,- — what has been a 
moat, — and an ancient court. There is a hawthorn- 
tree, which rises hke a wooden pillar through the rooms 
of the castle ; for, by a strange conceit, the walls have 
been built round it. The thickness of the walls, the 
small slaunting windows, and a great iron door at the 
entrance on the second story as you ascend the stairs, 
all indicate the rude times in which this castle was erect- 
ed. There were here some large venerable trees. 

I was afraid of a quarrel between Dr. Johnson and 
Mr. M' Aulay, who talked slightingly of the lower En- 
glish dergy. The Doctor gave him a frowning look, 
and said, " This is a day of novelties : I have seen old 
trees in Scotland, and I have heard the English clergy 
treated with disrespect." 

I dreaded that a whole evening at Caldermanse 
would be heavy ; however, Mr. Grant, an intelligent 
and well-bred minister in the neighbourhood, was there, 
and assisted us by his conversation. Dr. Johnson, talk- 
ing of hereditary occupations in the Highlands, said, 
*' There is no harm in such a custom as this ; but it is 
wrong to enforce it, and oblige a man to be a taylor or 
a smith, because his father was one." This custom, 
however, is not peculiar to our Highlands : it is well 
known that in India a similar practice prevails. 

Mr. M' Aulay began a rhapsody against creeds and 
confessions. Dr. Johnson shewed, that "what he called 
imposition, was only a voluntary declaration of agree- 
ment in certain articles of faith, which a church has a 
right to require, just as any other society can insist on 
certain rules being observed by its members. Nobody 
is compelled to be of the church, as nobody is com- 
pelled to enter into a society."— Thi^ W9.s a vqry clear 



100 ^ JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

and just view of the subject : but, M'Aulay could not 
be driven out of his track. Dr. Johnson said, " Sir, 
you are a bigot to laxness.'''* 

Mr. M'Aulay and I laid the map of Scotland before 
us ; and he pointed out a rout for us from Inverness, 
by Fort Augustus, to Glenelg, Sky, Mull, Icolmkill, 
Lorn, and Inveraray, which I wrote down. As my 
father was to begin the northern circuit about the 18th 
of September, it was necessary for us either to make 
our tour with great expedition, so as to get to Auchin- 
leck before he set out, or to protract it, so as not to be 
there till his return, which would be about the 10th of 
October. By M'Aulay's calculation, we were not to 
land in the Lorn till the 20th of September, I thought 
that the interruptions by bad da5'^s, or by occasional ex- 
cursions, might make it ten days later ; and I thought 
too, that we might perhaps go to Benbecula, and visit 
Clanranald, which would take a week of itself. 

Dr. Johnson went up with Mr. Grant to the library, 
which consisted of a tolerable collection ; but the Doc- 
tor; thought it rather a lady's library, with some Latin 
bobks in it by chance, than the library of a clergyman. 
It had only two of the Latin fathers, and one of the 
Greek fathers in Latin. I doubted whether Dr. John- 
son would be present at a Presbyterian prayer. I told 
Mr. M'Aulay so, and said that the Doctor might sit 
in the librar\^ while we were at family worship. Mr. 
M'Aulay said, he would omit it, rather than give Dr. 
Johnson offence : but 1 would by no means agree that 
an excess of politeness, even to so great a man, should 
prevent what I esteem as one of the best pious regula- 
tions. I know nothing more beneficial, more comfort- 
able, more agreeable, than that the little societies of 
each family should regularly assemble, and miite in 



TO THE HEBRIDES. ^ ICll: 

praise and prayer to our heavenly Father, from whom 
we daily receive so much good, and may hope for 
more in a higher state of existence. I mentioned to 
Dr. Johnson the over-delicate scrupulosity of our host. 
He said, he had no objection to hear the prayer. This 
was a pleasing surprise to me ; for he refused to go 
and hear Principal Robertson preach. " I will hear 
him, (said he,) if he will get up into a tree and preach; 
but I will not give a sanction, by my presence, to a 
Presbyterian assembly," 

Mr. Grant having prayed, Dr. Johnson said, his 
prayer was a very good one ; but objected to his not 
having introduced the Lord's Prayer. He told us, 
that an Italian of some note in London said once to 
him, " We have in our service a prayer called the 
Pater noster, which is a very fine composition. I 
wonder who is the author of it." — A singular instance 
of ignorance in a man of some literature and general 
inquiry ! 

Saturday^ 22>th August. 

Dr. Johnson had brought a Sallust with him in his 
pocket from Edinburgh. He gave it last night to Mr, 
M'Aulay's son, a smart young lad about eleven years 
old. Dr. Johnson had given an account of the educa- 
tion at Oxford, in all its gradations. The advantage 
of being a servitor to a youth of little fortune struck 
Mrs. M'Aulay much. I observed it aloud. Dr. John- 
son very handsomely and kindly said, that, if they 
would send their boy to him, when he was ready for 
the university, he would get him made a servitor, and 
perhaps woulrj. do more for liim. He could not pro- 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

mi«e to do more ; but would undertake for the servi- 
torship.* 

I should have mentioned that Mr. White, a Welch- 
man, who has been many years factor (i. e. steward) on 
the estate of Calder, drank tea with us last night, upon 
getting a note from Mr. M'Aulay, and asked us to his 
house. We had not time to accept of his invitation. 
He gave us a letter of introduction to Mr. Feme, mas- 
ter of stores at Fort George. He shewed it to me. It 
recommended " two celebrated gentlemen ; no less 
than Dr. Johnson, author of his Dictionary^ — and Mr. 
Boswell, kno^vn at Edinburgh by the name of Paoli." 
— He said, he hoped I had no objection to what he had 
written ; if I had, he would alter it. 1 thought it was 
a pity to check his effusions, and acquiesced ; taking 
care, however, to seal the letter, that it might not ap- 
pear that I had read it. 

A conversation took place, about saying grace at 
breakfast (as we do in Scotland) as well as at dinner 
and supper ; in which Dr. Johnson said. " It is enough 
if we have stated seasons of prayer ; no matter when. 
A man may as well pray when he mounts his horse, 
or a woman when she milks her cow, (which Mr. 
Grant told us is done in the Highlands,) as at meals ; 
and custom is to be followed, "f 

We proceeded to Fort George. When we came 
into the square, I sent a soldier with the letter to Mr. 

* Dr. Johnson did not neglect what he had undertaken. By his interest with 
the Rev. Dr. Adams, master of Pembroke College, Oxford, where he was edu- 
cated for some time, he obtained a servitorship for young M'AuJay. But it 
seems he had other views ; and I believe went abroad. 

t He could not bear to have it thought, that, in any instance whatever, the 
Scots are more pious than the English. I think grace as proper at breakfast 
as at any other meal. It is the pleasantest mieal we have. Dr. Johnson hasal- 
lowed the peculiar merit of breakfast in Scotland. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 103 

Ferne. He came to us immediately, and along with 
him came Major Brewse of the Engineers, pronounced 
Bruce. He said he believed it was originally the same 
Norman name with Bruce. That he had dined at ahouse 
in London, where were three Bruces, one of the Irish 
line, one of the Scottish line, and himself of the English 
line. He said he was shewn it in the Herald's office 
spelt fourteen different ways. I told him the different 
spellings of my name. Dr. Johnson observed, that there 
had been great disputes about the spelling of Shak- 
speare's name ; at last it was thought it would be set- 
tled by looking at the original copy of his will ; but, 
itpon examining it, he was found to have written it him- 
self no less than three different ways. 

Mr. Ferne and Major Brewse first carried us to 
wait on Sir Eyre Coote, whose regiment, the 37th, 
was lying here, and who then commanded the fort. 
He asked us to dine with him, which we agreed to do. 

Before dinner we examined the fort. The Major 
explained the fortification to us, and Mr. Ferne gave 
us an account of the stores. Dr. Johnson talked of the 
proportions of charcoal and salt-petre in making gun- 
powder, of granulating it, and of giving it a gloss. He 
made a very good figure upon these topicks. He said 
to me afterwards, that " he had talked ostentatiously ^ 
— ^ We reposed ourselves a little in Mr. Feme's house. 
He had every thing in neat order as in England ; and 
a tolerable collection of books. I looked into Pennant's 
Tour in Scotland. He says little of this fort ; but that 
*' the barracks, &c. form several streets." This is ag- 
grandising. Mr. Ferne observed, if he had said they 
form a square, with a row of buildings before it, he 
would have given a juster description. Dr. Johnson 
remarked, " how seldom descriptions correspond with 



lOi JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

realities ; and the reason is, that people do not write 
them till some time after, and then their imagination 
has added circumstances." 

We talked of Sir Adolphus Oughton. The major 
said, he knew a great deal for a military man. — Johnson, 
" Sir, you will find few men of any profession who know 
more. Sir Adolphus is a very extraordinary man ; a 
man of boundless curiosity and unwearied diligence." 

I know not how the Major contrived to introduce 
the contest between VVarburton and Lowth. — Johnson. 
^'' Warburton kept his temper all along, while Lowth 
was in a passion. Lowth published some of Warbur- 
ton's letters. Warburton drew him on to write some 
very abusive letters, and then asked his leave to publish 
them; which he knew Lowth could not refuse, after 
what he had done. So that Warburton contrived that 
he should publish apparently with Lowth's consent, 
what could not but shew Lowth in a disadvantageous 
light."* 

At three the drum beat for dinner. I, for a little 
while, fancied myself a military man, and it pleased me. 
We went to Sir Eyre Coote's, at the governour's house, 
and found him a most gendeman-like man. His lady 
is a very agreeable woman, with an uncommonly mild 
and sweet tone of voice. There was a pretty large 
company : Mr. Feme, Major Brewse, and several offi- 
cers. Sir Eyre had come from the East Indies by land, 
through the Desarts of Arabia. He told us, the Arabs 
could live five days without victuals, and subsist for 



* Here Dr. Johnson gave us part of a conversation held between a Great Per- 
sonage and him, in the library at the Queen's Palace, in the course of which this 
contest was considered. I have been at great pains to get that conversation as 
perfectly preserved as possible. It may perhaps at some future time be given to 
the pyblick. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 105 

three weeks on nothing else but the blood of their ca- 
mels, who could lose so much of it as would suffice for 
that time, without being exhausted. He highly praised 
the virtue of tlie Arabs ; their fidelity, if they under- 
took to conduct any person; and said, they would sa- 
crifice their lives rather than let him be robbed. Dr. 
Johnson, who is always for maintaining the superiority 
of civilized over uncivilized men, said, " Why, sir, I 
can see no superiour virtue in this. A serjeant and 
twelve men, who are my guard, will die, rather than that 
I shall be robbed." — Colonel Pennington, of the 37th 
regiment, took up the argument with a good deal of 
spirit, and ingenuity. — Pennington. " But the soldiers, 
are compelled to this, by fear of punishment." — John- 
son. " Well, sir, the Arabs are compelled by the fear 
of midxa^y ^Pennington. " The soldiers have the 
same fear of infamy, and the fear of punishment be- 
sides; so have less virtue, because they act less volun- 
tarily." — Lady Coote observed very well, that it ought 
to be known, if there was not, among the Arabs, some 
punishment for not being faithful on such occasions. 

We talked of the stage. I observed, that we had 
not now such a company of actors as in the last age ; 
Wilks, Booth, &c. &c. — Johnson. " You think so, be- 
cause there is one who excels all the rest so much : you 
compare them with Garrick, and see the deficiency. 
Garrick's great distinction is his universality. He can 
represent all modes of life, but that of an easy fine bred 
gentleman. ' ' — Pennington. ' ' He should, give over play- 
ing young parts." — Johnson. " He does not take them 
now ; but he does not leave off those which he has becH 
used to play, because he does them better than any one 
else can do them. If you had generations of actors, if 
they swarmed like bees, the young ones might drive off 

p 



106 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

the old. Mrs. Gibber, I think, got more reputation than 
she deserved, as she had a great sameness ; though her 
expression was undoubtedly veiy fine. Mrs. Clive was 
the best player I ever saw. Mrs. Pritchard was a verj^ 
good one ; but she had something affected in her' man- 
ner : I imagine she had some player of tlie former age 
in her eye, which occasioned it." 

Colonel Pennington said, Garrick sometimes failed 
in emphasis ; as for instance, in Hamlet^ 

I will speak daggers to her ; but use noiw. 

instead of 

I will s/ieak daggers to her ; but tise none. 

We had a dinner of two complete courses, variety 
of wines, and the regimental band of musick playing in 
in the square, before the windows, after it. I enjoyed 
this day much. We were quite easy and cheerful. Dr. 
Johnson said, " I shall always remember this fort with 
gratitude." I could not help being struck with some 
admiration, at finding upon this barren sandy point, such 
buildings, — such a dinner, — such company: it was like 
enchantment. Dr» Johnson, on the other hand, said to 
me more rationally, that " it. did not strike him as any 
thing extraordinary ; because he knew, here was a large 
sum of money expended in building a fort ; here was a 
regiment. If there had been less than what we found, 
it would have surprised him.'.' He looked coolly and 
deliberately through all the gradations : my warm ima- 
gination jumped from the barren sands to the splendid 
dinner and brilliant company. Like the hero in Love in 
a Hollow Tree, 

" Without ands or ifs, 
" I leapt from off the sands upon the cliffs." 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 107 

The whole scene gave me a strong impression of the 
power and excellence of human art. 

' We left the fort between six and seven o'clock. Sir 
Eyre Coote, Colonel Pennington, and several more, ac- 
companied us down stairs, and saw us into our chaise. 
There could not be greater attention paid to any visi- 
tors. Sir Eyre spoke of the hardships which Dr. John- 
son had before him. — Boswell. " Considering what he 
has said of us, we must make him feel something rough 
in Scotland." — Sir Eyre said to him, "You must change 
your name, sir." — Boswell. " Aye, to Dr. M'Gregor." 
We got safely to Inverness, and put up at Macken- 
zie's inn. Mr. Keith, the collector of Excise here, my 
old acquaintance at Ayr, who had seen us at the Fort, 
visited us in the evening, arid engaged us to dine with 
him next day, promising to breakfast with us, and take 
us to the English chapel ; so that we were at once com- 
modiously arranged. < •■ 

Not finding a letter here that I expected, I felt a 
momentary impatience to be at home. Transient clouds 
darkened my imagination, and in those clouds I saw 
events from which I shrunk : but a sentence or two of 
the Rambler's conversation gave me firmness, and I con- 
sidered that I was upon an expedition for which I had 
wished for years, and the recollection of which would be 
a treasure to me for life. 

Sunday^ 29th August. 

Mr. Keith breakfasted w^ith us. Dr. Johnson expa- 
tiated rather too strongly upon the benefits derived to 
Scotland frojn the Union, and the bad state of our peo- 
ple before it. I am entertained with his copious exag- 
geration upon that subject ; but I am uneasy when 



10§ JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

people are by, who do not know him as well as I d6, 
and may be apt to think him narrow-minded.* I there- 
fore diverted the subject. 

The English chapel, to which we went this morn- 
ing was but mean. The altar Was a bare fir table, with 
a coarse stool for kneeling on, covered with a piece of 
thick sail cloth doubled, by way of cushion. The congre- 
gation was small. Mr. Tait, the clergyman, read prayers 
verv well, thous:h with much of the Scotch accent. He 
preached on " Love your Enemies.'''' It was remarka- 
ble that, when talking of the connections amongst nien, 
he said, that some connected themselves with men of 
distinguished talents, and since they could not equal 
them, tried to deck themselves with their merit, by 
being their companions. The sentence was to this pur- 
pose. It had an odd coincidence with what might be 
said of my connecting myself with Dr. Johnson. 

After church, we walked down to the Quay. We 
then went to Macbeth 's castle. I had a romantick sa- 
tisfaction in seeing Dr. Johnson actually in it. It per- 
fectly corresponds with Shakspeare's description, which 
Sir Joshua Reynolds has so happily illustrated, in one 
of his notes on our immortal poet : 

" This castie hath a pleasant seat : the air 
" Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself 
" Unto our gentle sense," &c. 

Just as we came out of it, a raven perched on one of 
the chimney-tops, and croaked. Then I repeated 

« , — The raven himself is hoarse, 



"That croaks the fatal enterance of Duncan 
" Under my battlements." 

* It is remarkable that Dr. Johnson read this gentle remonstrance, and took 
no notite of it to me. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 109 

We dined at Mr. Keith's. Mrs. Keith was rather 
too attentive to Dr. Johnson, asking him many ques- 
tions about his drinking only water. He repressed that 
observation, by saying to me, " You ma^remember 
that Lady Errol took no notice of this." 

Dr. Johnson has the happy art (for wihich I have 
heard my father praise the old Earl of Aberdeen) of 
instructing himself, by making every man he meets tell 
him something of what he knows best. He led Keith 
to talk to him of the Excise in Scotlandij and in the 
course of cohversation, mentioned that hisfriend Mr. 
Thrale, the great brewer, paid twenty thousand pounds 
a year to the revenue; and that he had four casks, 
each of which holds sixteen hundred barrels, — above a 
thousand hogsheads. 

After this there was little conversation that deserves 
to be remembered. I shall therefore here again glean 
what I have omitted on former days. Dr. Gerrard, at 
Aberdeen, told us, that when he was in Wales, he was 
shewn a valley inhabited by Danes, who still retain 
their own language, and are quite a distinct people. 
Dr. Johnson thought it could not be true, or all the 
kingdom must have heard of it. He said to me, as we 
travelled, " these people, sir, that Gerrard talks of, may 
have somewhat of a peregrinity in their dialect, which 
relation has augmented to a different language." I 
asked him if peregrinity was an English word : he 
laughed, and said, " No." I told him this was the se- 
cond time I had heard him coin a word. When Foote 
broke his leg, I observed that it would make him fitter 
for taking off George Faulkner as Peter Paragraph, 
poor George having a wooden leg. Dr. Johnson at 
that time said, " George will rejoice at the depeditation 
of Foote ; and when I challenged that word, laughed, 



Mk 



110 JOURNAL OF A TOUU 

and owned he had made it ; and added that he had not 
made above three or four in his Dictionary.* 

Having conducted Dr. Johnson to our inn, I beg- 
ged permission to leave him for a little, that I might 
run about and pay some short visits to several good peo- 
ple of Inverness. He said to me, " You have all the 
old-fashioned principles, good and bad." — I acknow- 
ledge I have. That of attention to relations in the re- 
motest degree, or to worthy persons in every state 
whom I hav© once known, I inherit from my father. It 
gave me m%ch satisfaction to hear every body at Inver- 
ness speak of him with uncommon regard. — Mr. Keith 
and Mr. Grant, whom we had seen at Mr. M'Aulay's, 
supped with us at the inn. We had roasted kid, 
which Dr. Johnson had never tasted before. He re- 
lished it 'much» 

Monday^ 30th August. 

This day we were to begin our equitation, as I said ; 
for / would needs make a word too. It is remarkable^ 
that my noble, and to me most constant friend, the Earl 
of Pembroke, (who, if tliere is too much ease on my 
part, will be pleased to pardon what his benevolent, 
gay, social intercourse, and lively correspondence, have 
sensibly produced,) has since hit upon the very same 
word. The title of the first edition of his lordship's very 
useful book was, in simple terms, "A Method of break- 

* When upon the subject of th]s fieregrinity, he told me some particulars con- 
cernmg the compilation of his Dictionary, and concerning his throwing off Lord 
Chesterfield's patronage, of which very erroneous accounts have been circulated. 
These particulars, with others which he afterwards gave me, — as al^o his cele- 
brated letter to Lord Chesterfield, which he dicated tome, — I reserve for Ms 
"Life"' 



^.Xp THE HEBRIDES. Ill 

* . 
ing Horses,^^and teaching Soldiers to ride." The title 

of the second edition is, '' Military E(^uitation.'" 

We might have taken a chaise to Fort Augustus ; 
but, had we not hired horses at Inverness, we should 
not have found them afterwards : so we resolved to 
begin here to ride. We had three horses, for Dr. John- 
son, myself, and Joseph, and one which carried our port- 
manteaus, and two Highlanders who walked along with 
us, John Hay and Lauchlan Vass, whom Dr. Johnson 
has remembered with credit in his Journey, though he 
has omitted their names. Dr. Johnson ro(|e very well. 

About three miles beyond Inverness, we saw, just 
by the road, a very complete specimen of what is call- 
ed a Druid's temple. There was a double circle, one 
of very large, the other of smaller stones. Dr. John- 
son justly observed, that, "to go and see one druidical 
temple is only to see that it is nothing, for there is 
neither art nor power in it; and seeing one is quite 
enough." 

It was a delightful day. Lochness, and the road 
upon the side of it, shaded with birch trees, and the hills 
above it, pleased us much. The scene was as seques- 
tered and agreeably wild as could be desired, and for a 
time engrossed all our attention. 

To see Dr. Johnson in any new situation is always 
an interesting object to me; and, as I saw him now for 
the first time on horseback, jaunting about at his ease 
in quest of pleasure and novelty, the very different oc- 
cupations of his former laborious life, his admirable pro- 
ductions, his London^ his Rambler^ ^c. &c. immediate- 
ly presented themselves to my mind, and the .contrast 
made a strong impression on my imagination. \^i 

When we had advanced a good way by the side of 
Lochness, I perceived a little hut, witli an old-looking 



112 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

woman at the door of it. I thought here might be a 
scene that would amuse Dr. Johnson ; so I mentioned 
it to him, " Let's go in," said he. So we dismount- 
ed, and we and our guides entered the hut. It was a 
wretched little hovel of earth only, I think, and for a win- 
dow had only a small hole, which was stopped with a 
piece of turf, that was taken out occasionally to let in 
light. In the middle of the room or space which we 
entered, was a fire of peat, the smoke going out at a 
hole in the roof. She had a pot upon it, with goat's 
flesh, boiling. There was at one end under the same 
roof, but divided by a kind of partition made of wattles, 
a pen or fold in which we saw a good many kids. 

Dr. Johnson was curious to know where she slept. 
I asked one of the guides, who questioned her in Erse* 
She answered with a tone of emotion, saying (as he told 
us,) she was afraid we wanted to go to bed to her. This 
Goquetry^ or whatever it may be called, of so wretched 
a being, was truly ludicrous. Dr. Johnson and I after- 
wards were merry upon it. I said, it was he who alarm- 
ed the poor woman's virtue. — " No, sir, (said he) she'll 
say, ' there came a wicked young fellow, a wild dog, 
who I believe would have ravished me, had there not 
been with him a grave old gentleman, who repressed 
him ; but when he gets out of the sight of his tutor, I'll 
warrant you he 'Jji spare no woman he meets, young or 
old." — " No, sir, (I replied,) she'll say, ' There was a 
terrible ruffian who would have forced me, had it not 
been for a civil decent young man, who, I take it, was 
an angel sent from heaven to protect me." 

Dr. Jolmson would not hurt her delicacy, by insist- 
ing on " seeing her bed-chamber," like Archer in the 
Beaux Stratagem. But my curiosity was more ardent ; 
I lighted a piece of paper, and went into the place where 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 113 

the bed was. There was a little partition of wicker, 
rather more neatly done than that for the fold, and close 
by the wall was a kind of bedstead of wood with heath 
upon it by way of bed; at the foot of which I saw some 
sort of blankets or covering rolled up in a heap. The 
woman's name was Fraser ; so was her husband's. He 
was a man of eighty. Mr. Fraser of Balnain allows him 
to live in this hut, and keep sixty goats, for taking care 
of his woods, where he then was. They had live chil- 
dren, the eldest only thirteen. Two were gone to In- 
verness to buy meal; the rest were looking after the 
goats. This contented family had four stacks of bar- 
ley, twenty-four sheaves in each. They had a few 
fowls. We were informed that they lived all the spring 
without meal, upon milk and curds and whey alone. 
"What they get for their goats, kids, and fowls, main- 
tains them during the rest of the year. 

She asked us to sit down and take a dram. I saw 
one chair. She said, she was as happy as any woman 
in Scotland. She could hardly speak any English, ex- 
cept a few detached words. Dr. Johnson was pleased 
at seeing, for the first time, such a state of human life. 
She asked for snuff. It is her luxury, and she uses a 
great deal. We had none ; but gave her sixpence a 
piece. She then brought out her whisky bottle. I 
tasted it; as did Joseph and our guides : so I gave her 
sixpence more. She sent us away with many prayers 
in Erse. 

We dined at a little publick house called the Gene- 
raVs Hut, from General Wade, who was lodged there 
when he commanded in the North. Near it is the 
meanest parish K'lrk I ever saw. It is a shame it should 
be on a high road. After dinner, we passed through a 
good deal of mountainous country. I had known Mr. 



114 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

Trapaud, the deputy governour of fort Augustus twelve 
years ago, at a circuit at Inverness, where my father was 
judge. I sent forward one of our guides, and Joseph, 
with a card to him, that he might know Dr. Johnson 
and I were coming up, leaving it to him to invite us or 
not. It was dark when we arrived. The inn was 
wretched. Government ought to build one, or give 
the resident governour an additional salary ; as, in the 
present state of things, he must necessarily be put to a 
great expence in entertaining travellers. Joseph an- 
nounced to us, when we alighted, that the governour 
waited for us at the gate of the fort. We walked to it. 
He met us, and with much civility conducted us to his 
house. It was comfortable to find ourselves in a well- 
built little square, and a neatly furnished house, in good 
company, and with a good supper before us ; in short, 
with all the conveniencies of civilized life in the midst 
of rude mountains. Mrs. Trapaud, and the governour's 
daughter, and her husband, Captain Newmarsh, were 
all most obliging and polite. The governour had ex- 
cellent animal spirits, the conversation of a soldier, and 
somewhat of a Frenchman, to which his extraction en- 
titles him. He is brother to General Cyrus Trapaud. 
We passed a very agreeable evening. 

Tuesday^ 3 \st August. 

The governour has a very good garden. W^e look- 
ed at it, and at all the rest of the fort, which is but 
small, and may be commanded from a variety of hills 
around. We also looked at the galley or sloop belong- 
ing to the fort, which sails upon the Loch, and brings 
what is wanted for the garrison. Captains Urie and 
Darippe, of the 15th regiment of foot, breakfasted with 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 115 

US. They had served in America, and entertained Dr. 
Johnson much with an account of the Indians. He said, 
he could make a very pretty book out of them, were he 
to stay there. G'overnour Trapaud was much struck 
with Dr. Johnson. " I like to hear him, (said he,) it is 
so majestick. I should be glad to hear him speak in 
your court.'' — He pressed us to stay dinner ; but I con- 
sidered that we had a rude road before us, which we 
could more easily encounter in the morning, and that it 
was hard to say when we might get up, were we to sit 
down to good entertainment, in good company : I there- 
fore begged the governour would excuse us. — Here too, 
I had another very pleasing proof how much my father 
is regarded. The governour expressed the highest re- 
spect for him, and bade me tell him, that if he would 
come that way on the Northern circuit, he would do him 
all the honours of the garrison. 

Between twelve and one we set out, and travelled 
eleven miles, through a wild country, till we came to 
a house in Glenmorison, called Anoch^ kept by a 
M'Queen.* Our landlord was a sensible fellow: he 
had learnt his grammar, and " Dr. Johnson justly ob- 
served, that " a man is the better for that as long as he 
lives." There were some books here: a Treatise against 
Drunkenness, translated from the French ; a volume of 
the Spectator ; a volume of Prideaux's Connection, and 
Cyrus's Travels. M*Queen said he had more volumes ; 
and his pride seemed to be much piqued that we were 
surprised at his having books. 



* A M'Queen is a Highland mode of expression. An Englishman would say 
one M'Queen . But where there are clans or tribes of men, distinguished by patro- 
nymick surnames, the individuals of each are considered as if they were of differ- 
ent species, at least as much as nations are distinguished ; so that a M'^teen, a 
II'Donald, a M'Lean, is said, as we say a Frenchman, an Italian, a Spaniard, 



116 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

Near to this place we had passed a party of soldiers, 
under a Serjeant's commaitd, at work upon the road. 
We gave thtm two shillings to drink. They came to 
our inn, and made merry in the barn. We went and 
paid them a visit, Dr. Johnson saying, " Come let's go 
and give 'em another shilling a-piece." We did soj 
and he was saluted "my lord" by all of them. He is 
really generous, loves influence, and has the way of 
gaining it. He said, "I am quite feudal, sir." Here I 
agree with him. I said, I regretted I was not the head 
of a clan ; however, though not possessed of such an 
Hereditary advantage, I would always endeavor to make 
my tenants follow me. I could not be a patriarchal 
chief, but I would be a feudal chief. 

The poor soldiers got too m\ich liquor. Some of 
them fought, and left blood upon the spot, and cursed 
whiskey next morning. The house here was built of 
thick turfs, and thatched witli thinner turfs and heath. 
It had three rooms in length, and a little room which 
projected. Where we sat, the side- walls were wain- 
scotted^ as Dr. Johnson said, with wicker, very neatly 
plaited. Our landlord had made the whole with his own 
hands. 

After dinner, M'Queen sat by us a while, and talk- 
ed with us. He said all the Laird of Glenmorison's 
people would bleed for him, if they were well used ; 
but that seventy men had gone out of the Glen to 
America. That he himself intended to go next year ; 
for that the rent of his farm, which twenty years ago 
was only five pounds, was now raised to twenty pounds. 
That he could pay ten pounds, and live ; but no 

more. Dr. Johnson said, he wished M'Queen laird 

of Glenmorison, and the laird to go to America. 
M'Queen very generously answered, he should be sorry 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 117 

for it ; for the laird could not shift for himself in Ameri- 
ca as he could do. 

I talked of the officers whom we had left to-day ; 
how much service they had seen, and how little they 
got for it, even of fame. — Johnson. " Sir, a soldier 
gets as little as any man can get." — Boswell. " Gold- 
smith has acquired more fame than all the officers last 
war, who were not Generals." — Johnson. "Why, sir, 
you will find ten thousand fit to do what they did, be- 
fore you find one who does what Goldsmith has done. 
You must consider, that a thing is valued according to 
its rarity. A pebble that paves the street is in itself 
more useful than the diamond upon a lady's finger."— I 
wish our friend Goldsmith had heard this. 

I yesterday expressed my wonder that John Hay, 
one of our guides, who had been pressed aboard a man 
of war, did not choose to continue in it longer than nine 
months, after which time he got off. — Johnson. " Why, 
sir, no man will be a sailor, who has contrivance enough 
to get himself into a jail ; for, being in a ship is being 
in a jail, with the chance of being drowned." 

We had tea in the afternoon, and our landlord's 
daughter, a modest civil girl, very neatly drest, made 
it for us. She told us, she had been a year at Inverness, 
and learnt reading and writing, sewing, knotting, work- 
ing lace, and pastry. Dr. Johnson made her a present 
of a book which he had bought at Inverness.* 

* This book has given rise to much inquiry, which has ended in ludicrous sur- 
prise. Several ladies, wishing to learn the kind of reading which the great and 
good Dr. Johnson esteemed most fit for a young woman, desired to know what 
book he had selected for this Highland nymph. " They never adverted, (said he,) 
that I had no choice in the matter. I have said that I presented her with a book 
which I happened to have about me." — And what was this book ? — My readers, 
prepare your features for merriment. It was Cocker's Arithmetick ! — Wherever 
this was mentioned, there was a loud laugh, at which Dr. Johnson, when pre- 



118 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

The room had some deals laid acros the joists, as a 
kind of cieling. There were two beds in the room, and 
a woman's gown was hung on a rope to make a curtain 
of separation between them. Joseph had sheets, which 
my wife had sent with us, laid on them. We had much 
hesitation, whether to undress, or lie down with our 
clothes on. I said at last, "I'll plunge in ! There will 
be less harbour for vermin about me, when I am strip- 
ped ! — Dr. Johnson said, he was like one hesitating 
whether to go into the cold bath. At last he resolved 

too. I observed, he might have served a campaign.^^ 

Johnson. " I could do all that can be done by patience : 
whether I should have strength enough, I know not." — 
He was in excellent humour. To see the Rambler as 
I saw him to-night, was really an amusement. I yes- 
terday told him, I was thinking of writing a poetical 
letter to him, on his return from Scotland^ in the style 
of Swift's humorous epistle in the character of Mary 
Gulliver to her husband. Captain Lemuel Gulliver, 
on his return to England from the country of the 
Houyhnhnms : 

" At early morn I to the market haste, 

" Studious in ev'ry thing to please thy taste. 

" A curiousybwZ and sjiaragrass I chose ; 

"(For I remember you were fond of those :) 

"Three shillings cost the first, the last sev'n groats j 

" Sullen you turn from both, and call for oats." 

sent, used sometimes to be a littleangry. One day, when we were dining at Ge- 
neral Oglethorpe's, where we had many a valuable day, 1 ventured to interrogate 
him, " But, sir, is it not somewhat singular that you should happen to have 
Coder's Arithmetici about you on your journey ? What made you buy such a 
book at Inverness ?" — He gave nne a very sufficient answer. " Why, sir, if you 
are to have but one book with you upon a journey, let it be a book of science. 
When you have read through a book of entertainment, you know it, and it can 
do no more for you ; but a book of science is inexhaustible." 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 119 

He laughed, and asked in whose name I would write it. 
I said, in Mrs. Thrale's. He was angry. " Sir if 
you have any sense of decency or delicacy, you won't 
do that!"— ^o^<?//. "Then let it be in Cole's, the 
landlord of the Mitre tavern ; where we have so often 
sat together."— /oAw^o;?. *' Ay, that may do." 

After we had offered up our private devotions, and 
had chatted a little from our beds, Dr. Johnson said, 
"God bless us both for Jesus Christ's sake! Good 
night!"— -I pronounced ".^m<?;2."— He fell asleep im- 
mediately. I was not so fortunate for a long time. 
I fancied myself bit by innumerable vermin under the 
clothes; and that a spider was travelling from the 
wainscot towards my mouth. At last I fell into insen- 
sibility. 

Wednesday^ 1st September. 

I awaked very early. I began to imagine that the 
landlord, being about to emigrate, might murder us to 
get our money, and lay it upon the soldiers in the barn. 
Such groundless fears will arise in the mind, before it has 
resumed its vigour after sleep ! Dr. Johnson had had 
the same kind of ideas ; for he told me afterwards, that 
he considered so many soldiers, having seen us, would 
be witnesses, should any harm be done, and that cir- 
cumstance, I suppose, he considered as a security. 
When I got up, I found him sound asleep in his 
miserable sttje, as I may call it, with a coloured handker- 
chief tied round his head. With difficulty could I 
awaken him. It reminded me of Henry the Fourth's 
fine soliloquy on sleep ; for there was here as zmeast/ a 
pallet ^sthQ poet's imagination could possibly conceive. 

A red coat 0^ the 15th regiment, whether officer, or 



120 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

only sergeant, I could not be sure, came to the house, 
in his way to the mountains to shoot deer, which it 
seems the Laird of Glenmorison does not hinder any 
body to do. Few, indeed, can do them harm. We 
had him to breakfast with us. We got away about 
eight. M'Queen walked some miles to give us a con- 
voy. He had, in 1745, joined the Highland army at 
Fort Augustus, and continued in it till after the battle 
of Culloden. As he narrated the particulars of that ill- 
advised, but brave attempt, I could not refrain from 
tears. There is a certain association of ideas in my 
mind upon that subject, by which I am strongly affect- 
ed. The very Highland names, or the sound of a bag- 
pipe, will stir my blood, and fill me with a mixture of 
melancholy and respect for courage ; with pity for an 
unfortunate and superstitious regard for antiquity, and 
thoughtless inclination for war; in short, with a crowd 
of sensations with which sober rationality has nothing 
to do. 

We passed tlirough Glensheal, with prodigious 
mountains on each side. We saw where the battle 
w^as fought in the 3'ear 1719. Dr. Johnson owned he 
was now in a scene of as wild nature as he could see ; 
but he corrected me sometimes in my inaccurate obser- 
vations. — " There, (said I,) is a mountain like a cone." 
— Johnson. "No, sir. It would be called so in a 
book ; and w^hen a man comes to look at it, he sees it is 
not so. It is indeed pointed at the top ; but one side 
of it is larger than the other." — Another mountain 
I called immense. — Johnson, " No ; it is no more 
than a considerable protuberance." 

We came to a rich green valley, comparatively 
speaking, and stopped a while to let our horses rest 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 121 

and eat grass.* We soon afterwards came to Auch- 
nasheal, a kind of rural village, a number of cottages 
being built together, as we saw all along in the High- 
lands. We passed many miles this day without seeing 
a house, but only little summer-huts, called shielings, 
Evan Campbell, servant to Mr. Murchison, factor to 
theJLaird of Macleod in Glenelg, ran along with us to- 
^y. He was a very obliging fellow. At Auchnasheal 
Mre sat down on a green turf- seat at the end of a house; 
they brought us out two wooden dishes of milk, which 
we tasted. One of them was frothed like a syllabub. 
I saw a woman preparing it with such a stick as is 
used for chocolate, and in the same manner. We had 
a considerable circle about us, men, women, and 
children, all M'Craas, Lord Seaforth's people. Not 
one of them could speak English. I observed to Dr. 
Johnson, it was much the same as being with a tribe of 
Indians. — Johnson. " Yes, sir ; but not so terrifying." 
I gave all who chose it, snuff and tobacco. Gover- 
nour Trapaud had made us buy a quantity at Fort Au- 
gustus, and put them up in small parcels. I also gave 

* Dr. Johnson in his ^'vst^rney, thus beautifully describes his situation here : — "I 
sat down on a bank, such as a writer of romance might have delighted to feign. 
I had, indeed, no trees to whisper over my head ; but a clear rivulet streamed 
at my feet. The day was calm, the air soft, and all was rudeness, silence and 
solitude. " Before me, and on either side, were high hills, which, by hindering the 
eye from ranging, forced the mind to find entertainment for itself. Whether I 
spent the hour well, I know not, for here I first conceived the thought of this 
narration." — The Critical JRezne-iwrs, with a spirit and expression worthy of the 
subject, say, — " We congratulate the publick on the event with which this quota- 
tion concludes, and are fully persuaded that the hour in which the entertaining 
traveller conceived this narrative will be considered, by every reader of taste, as a 
fortunate event in the annals of literature. Were it suitable to the task in which 
we are at present engaged, to indulge ourselves in a poetical flight, we would in- 
voke the winds of the Caledonian mountains to blow for ever, with their softest 
breezes, on the bank where our author reclined, and request of Flora, that it 
might be perpetually adorned with the gayest and most fragrant productions of the 



122 JOURNAL OF A TOl/R 

each person a bit of wheat bread, which they had never 
tasted before. I then gave a penny a piece to each 
child. I told Dr. Johnson of this : upon which he 
called to Joseph and our guides, for change for a shil- 
ling, and declared that he would distribute among the 
children. Upon this being announced in Erse, there 
was a great stir ; not only did some children come run- 
ning down from neighbouring huts, but I observed one 
black-haired man, who had been with us all along, had 
gone off and returned, bringing a very young child. 
My fellow-traveller then ordered the children to be 
drawn up in a row ; and he dealt about his copper, and 
made them and their parents all happy. The poor 
M'Craas, whatever may be their present state, were of 
considerable estimation in the year 1715, when there 
was &. line in a song, 

And aw the brave M'Craas are coming.* 

There was great diversity in the faces of the circle 

* The M'Craas, ov Macraes, were since that time brought into the king's 
army, by the late Lord Seaforth. When they lay in Edinburgh castle in 1778, 
and were ordered to embark for Jersey, they, with a number of other men in the 
regiment, for different reasons, but especially an apprehension that they were 
to be sold to the East-India Company, though enlisted not to be sent out 
of Great-Britain without their own consent, made a determined mutiny, and 
encamped upon the lofty mountain, Arthur's seat, where they remained three 
days and three nights; bidding defiance to all the force in Scotland. At 
last they came down, and embarked peaceably, having obtained formal articles 
of capitivlation, signed by Sir Adolphus Ough ton, commander in chief. Gene- 
ral Skene, deputy commander, the Duke of Buccleugh, and the Earl of Dun- 
more, which quieted them. Since the secession of the Commons of Rome 
to the 3fons Sacer, a more spirited exertion has not been made. I gave great at- 
tention to it from first to last, and have drawn up a particular account of it. 
Those brave fellows have since served their country effectually at Jersey, and also 
in the East-Indies^ to which, after being better informed, they voluntarily agreed 
to go-. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 123 

around us : some were as black and wild in their ap- 
pearance as any American savages whatever. One 
woman was as comely almost as the figure of Sappho, 
as we see it painted. We asked the old woman, the 
mistress of the house where we had the milk, (which, 
by the bye, Dr. Johnson told me, for I did not observe 
it myself, was built not of turf, but of stone,) what we. 
should pay. She said, what we pleased. One of our 
guides asked her, in Erse, if a shilling was enough. 
She said " Yes." But some of the men bade her ask 
more. This vexed me ; because it shewed a desire to 
impose upn strangers, as they knew that even a shilling 
was high payment. The woman, however, honestly 
persisted in her first price ; so I gave her half a cro^vn. 
-- — Thus we had one good scene of life uncommon 
to us. The people were very much pleased, gave us 
many blessings, and said they had not had such a day 
since the old Laird of M'Leod's time. 

Dr. Johnson was much refreshed by this repast. He 
was pleased when I told him he would make a good 
Chief. He said " Were I a chief, I would dress my 
servants better than myself, and knock a fellow down 
if he looked saucy to a Macdonald in rags : but I would 
not treat men as brutes. I would let them know why 
all of my clan were to have attention paid to them, I 
would tell my upper servants why, and make them tell 
the others." 

We rode on well, till we came to the high mountain 
called the Rattakin, by which time both Dr. Johnson and 
the horses were a good deal fatigued. It is a terrible 
steep to climb, notwithstanding the road is formed slant- 
ing along it ; however, we made it out. On the top of it 
we met Captain M'Leod of Balmenoch (a Dutch officer 
who had come from Sky) riding with his sword slung 



i24 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

across him. He^ asked, " Is this Mr. Boswell ?" which 
was a proof that we were expected. Going down the 
hill on the other side was no easy task. As Dr. John- 
son was a great weight, the two guides agreed that he 
should ride the horses alternately. Hay's were the two 
best, and the Doctor would not ride but upon one or 
other of them, a black or a brown. But as Hay com- 
plained much, after ascending the Rattakin^ the Doctor 
was prevailed with to mount one of Vass's greys. As 
he rode upon it down hill, it did not go well ; and he 
grumbled. I walked on a little before, but was exG€S- 
sively entertained with the method taken to keep him 
in good humour. Hay led the horse's head, talking to 
Dr. Johnson as much as he could ; and (having heard 
him, in the forenoon, express a pastoral pleasure on see- 
ing the goats browzing) just when the Doctor was ut- 
tering his displeasure, the fellow cried, with a very High- 
land accent, " See such pretty goats !" Then he whis- 
tled, whu! and made them jump. — Little did he con- 
ceive what Dr. Johnson was. Here now was a com- 
mon ignorant Highland clown imagining that he could 
divert, as one does a child, — Dr. Samuel Johnson ! — 
The ludicrousness, absurdity, and extraordinary con- 
trast between what the fellow fancied, and the reality, 
was truly comick. 

It grew dusky, and we had a very tedious ride for 
what was called five miles ; but I am sure would mea- 
sure ten. We had no conversation. I was riding for- 
ward to the inn at Glenelg, on the shore opposite to 
Sky, that I might take proper measures, before Dr. 
Johnson, who was now advancing in dreary silence, Hay 
leading his horse, should arrive. Vass also walked by 
the side of his horse, and Joseph followed behind ; as 
therefore he was thus attended, and seemed to be in 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 125 

deep meditation, I thought there could be no harm in 
leaving him for a little while. He called me back with 
a tremendous shout, and was really in a passion with me 
for leaving him. I told him my intentions, but he was 
not satisfied, and said, " Do you know, I should as soon 
have thought of picking a pocket, as doing so." — Bos- 
well. " I am diverted with you, sir." — Johnson. " Sir, 
1 could never be diverted with incivility. Doing such 
a thing, makes one lose confidence in him who has done 
it, as one cannot tell what he may do next." — His ex- 
traordinary warmth confounded me so much, that I jus- 
tified myself but lamely to him ; yet my intentions were 
not improper. I wished to get on to see how we were 
to be lodged, and how we were to get a boat ; all which 
I thought I could best settle myself, without his having 
any trouble. To apply his great mind to minute parti- 
culars, is wrong; it is like taking an immense balance, 
such as is kept on quays for Aveighing cargoes of ships, 
to weigh a guinea. I knew I had neat little scales which 
would do better; and that his attention to every thing 
which falls in his way, and his uncommon desire to be 
always in the right, would make him weigh, if he knew 
of the particulars : it was right therefore for me to weigh 
them, and let him have them only in effect. I however 
continued to ride by him, finding he wished I should 
do so. 

As we passed the barracks at Bernera, I looked at 
them wishfully, as soldiers have always every thing in 
the best order : but there was only a sergeant and a few 
men there. We came on to the inn at Glenelg. There 
was no provender for our horses ; so they were sent to 
grass, with a man to watch them. A maid shewed us 
up stairs into a room damp and dirty, with bare walls, 
a variety of bad smells, a coarse black greasy fir table. 



1:26 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

and forms of the same kind; and out of a wretched bed 
started a fellow from his sleep, like Edgar in King Lear, 
" Poor Tom's a cold.''''* 

This inn was furnished with not a single article that 
we could either eat or drink; but Mr. Murchison, fac- 
tor to the Laird of Macleod in Glenelg, sent us a bottle 
of rum and some sugar, with a polite message, to ac- 
quaint us, that he was very sorry that he did not hear of 
us till we had passed his house, otherwise he should 
have insisted on our sleeping there that night : and that 
if he were not obliged to set out for Inverness early next 
morning, he would have waited upon us. — Such extra- 
ordinary attention from this gentleman, to entire stran- 
gers, deserves the most honourable commemoration. 

Our bad accommodation here made me uneasy, and 
almost fretful. Dr. Johnson was calm. I said, he was 
so from vanity. — Johnson, " No, sir, it is from philoso- 
phy." — It pleased me to see that the Rambler could 
practise so well his own lessons. 

I resumed the subject of my leaving him on the 
road, and endeavoured to defend it better. He was still 
violent upon that head, and said, " Sir, had you gone on, 
I was thinking that I should have returned with you to 
Edinburgh, and then have parted from you, and never 
spoken to you more." 

I sent for fresh hay, with which we made beds for 
ourselves, each in a room equally miserable. Like 
Wolfe, we had a " choice ofdrfficulties.^'' Dr. Johnson 
made things easier by comparison. At M' Queen's, last 
night, he observed, that few were so well lodged in a 
ship. To-night he said, we were better than if we had 



* It is amusing to observe the different images which this being presented to 
Dr. Johnson and me. The Doctor, in his Journeyj compares him to a Cyclops. 



TO THE HEBRIDES* 127 

been upon the hill. He lay down buttoned up in his 
great coat. I had my sheets spread on the hay, and 
my clothes and great coat laid over me, by way of 
blankets. 

Thursday^ 2t/ September. 

I had slept ill. Dr. Johnson's anger had affected 
me much. I considered that without any bad inten- 
tion, I might suddenly forfeit his friendship ; an^ was 
impatient to see him this morning. I told him how un- 
easy he had made me, by what he had said, and re- 
minded him of his own remark at Aberdeen, upon old 
friendships being hastily broken off. He owned, he had 
spoken to me in passion ; that he would not have done 
what he threatened ; and that, if he had, he should have 
been ten times worse than I ; that forming intimacies, 
would indeed be " limning the water," were they liable 
to such sudden dissolution ; and he added, " Let's think, 
no more on't." — Boswell. " Well dien, sir, I shall be 
easy. Remember, I am to have fair warning in case of 
any quarreL You are never to spring a mine upon me. 
It was absurd in me to believe you." — Johnson. " You 
deserved about as much, as to believe me from night to 
morning." 

After breakfast, we got into a boat for Sky. It rain- 
ed much when we set off, but cleared up as we ad- 
vanced. One of the boatmen, who spoke English, said, 
that a mile at land was two miles at sea. I then ob- 
served, that from Glenelg to Armidale in Sky, which 
was our present course, and is called twelve, was only 
six miles : but this he could not understand. " Well, 
(said Dr. Johnson,) never talk to me of the native good 
sense of the Highlanders. Here is a fellow who calls 



128 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

one mile two, and yet cannot comprehend that twelve 
such imaginary miles make in truth but six." 

We reached the shore of Armidale before one 
o'clock. Sir Alexander M'Donald came down to re- 
ceive us. He and his lady, (formerly Miss Bosvile of 
/Yorkshire,) were then in a house built by a tenant of this 
place, which is in the district of Slate, the family man- 
sion here having been burned in Sir Donald Macdonald's 
time. 

The most ancient seat of the chief of the Mac- 
donalds in the isle of Sky was at Duntulm, where there 
are the remains of a stately castle. The principal resi- 
dence of the family is now at Mugstot, at which there 
is a considerable building. Sir Alexander and lady 
Macdonald had come to Armidale in their way to Edin- 
burgh, where it was necessary for them to be, soon 
after this time. 

Armidale is situated on a pretty bay of the nar- 
row sea, which flows between the main land of Scotland 
and the isle of Sky. In front there is a grand prospect 
of the rude mountains of Moidart and Knoidart. Behind 
are hills gently rising and covered with a finer verdure 
than I expected to see in this climate, and the scene is 
enlivened by a number of little clear brooks. 

Sir Alexander Macdonald having been an Eton 
scholar, and being a gentleman of talents. Dr. Johnson 
had been very well pleased with him in London. But 
my fellow-traveller and I were now full of the old 
Highland spirit, and were dissatisfied at hearing of 
racked rents and emigration ; and finding a chief not 
surrounded by his clan. Dr. Johnspn said, "Sir, the 
Highland chiefs should not be allowed to go farther 
south than Aberdeen. A strong minded man, like 
Sir James Macdonald, may be improved by an English 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 129 

education ; but in general, they will be tamed into in- 
significance." 

We found here^ Mr. Janes of Aberdeenshire, a na- 
turalist. Janes said he had been at Dr. Johnson's, in 
London, with Ferguson the Astronomer. — Johnson. " It 
is strange that, in such distant places, I should meet 
with any one who knows me. I should have thought 
I might hide myself in Sky." 

Friday, 3d September. 

This day proving wet, we should have passed our 
time very uncomfortably, had we not found in the house 
two chests of books, which we eagerly ransacked. After 
dinner, when I alone was left at the table with the few 
Highland gentlemen who were of the company, having 
talked with very high respect of Sir James Macdonald, 
they were all so much affected as to shed tears. One of 
them was Mr. Donald Macdonald, who had been lieuten- 
ant of grenadiers in the Highland regiment, raised by 
Colonel Montgomery, now Earl of Eglintoune, in 
the war before last ; one of those regiments which the 
late Lord Chatham prided himself in having brought 
from "the mountains of the North :" by doing which 
he contributed to extinguish in the Highlands the re- 
mains of disaffection to the present Royal Family. From 
this gentleman's conversation, I first learnt how very 
popular his Colonel was among the Highlanders; of 
which I had such continued proofs, during the whole 
course of my Tour, that on my return I could not help 
telling the noble Earl himself, that I did not before 
know how great a man he was. 

We were advised by some persons here to visit 
Rasay, in our way to Dunvegan, the seat of the Laird 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

of Macleod. Being informed that the Rev. Mr. Donald 
M 'Queen was the most intelligent man in Sky, and hav- 
ing been favoured with a letter of ihtroduction to him, 
by the learned Sir James Foulis, I sent it to him by an 
express, and requested he would meet us at Rasay ; and 
at the same time enclosed a letter to the Laird of 
Macleod, informing him that we intended in a few days 
to have the honour of waiting on him at Dunvegan. 

Dr. Johnson this day endeavoured to obtain some 
knowledge of the state of the country ; but complained 
that he could get no distinct information about any thing, 
from those with whom he conversed. 

Saturday, Ath September, 

My endeavours to rouse the English-bred Chieftain, 
in whose house we were, to the feudal and patriarchal 
feelings, proving ineffectual, Dr. Johnson this morning 
tried to bring him to our way of thinking. — Johnson. 
" Were I in your place, sir, in seven years I would make 
this an independant island. I would roast oxen whole, 
and hangouta flag as a signal to the Macdonalds to come 
and get beef and whisky." — Sir Alexander was still 
starting difiiculties. — Johnson. "Nay, sir; if you are 
born to object, I have done with you. Sir, I would have 
a magazine of arms." — Sir Alexander. " They would 

rust." Johnson. " Let there be men to keep them 

clean. Your ancestors did not use to let their arms 
rust." 

We attempted in vain to communicate to him a por- 
tion of our enthusiasm. He bore with so polite a good- 
nature our warm, and what some might call Gothick,- 
expostulations, on this subject, that I should not forgive 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 131 

myself, were I to record all that Dr. Johnson's ardour 
led him to say. — This day was little better than a blank. 

Sunday, 5th September. 

I walked to the parish church of Slate, which is a 
very poor one. There are no church bells in the island. 
I was told there were once some ; what has become of 
them, I could not learn. The minister not being at 
home, there was no service. I went into the church, 
and saw the monument of Sir James Macdonald, which 
was elegantly executed at Rome, and has the following 
inscription, written by his friend, George Lord Lyt- 
tleton : 

To the memory 
Of Sir JAMES MACDONALD, Bart. 

Who in the flower of youth 

Had attained to so eminent a degree of knowledge 

In Mathematics, Philosophy, Languages, 

And in every other branch of useful and polite leai-ning, 

As few have acquired in a long life 

Wholly devoted to study : 

Yet to this erudition he joined 

What can rarely be found with it, 

Great talents for business, 

Great propriety of behaviour, 

Great politeness of manners ! 

His eloquence was sweet, correct and flowing ; 

His memory vast and exact ; 

His judgment strong and acute ; 

All which endowments, united 

With the most amiable temper 

And every private virtue. 

Procured him, not only in his own country, 

But also from foreign nations, 

The highest marks of esteem. 

In the year of our Lord 

1766, 



1.32' JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

The 25th of his life, 

After a long and extremely painful illness, 

'^Vhich lie supported with admirable patience and fortitude, 

He died at Rome, 

Where, notwithstanding the difference of religion, 

Such extraordinary honours were paid to his memory, 

As had never graced that of any other British subject. 

Since the death of Sir Philip Sydney. 

The fame he left behind him is the best consolation 

To his afflicted family. 

And to his countrymen in this isle, 

For whose benefit he had planned 

Many useful improvements. 

Which his fruitful genius suggested. 

And his active spirit promoted, 

Under the sober direction 

Of a clear and enlightened understanding. 

Reader, bewail our loss, 

And that of all Britain. 

In testimony of her love. 

And as the best return she can make 

To her departed son, 

For the constant tenderness and affection 

Which, even to his last moments, 

He shewed for her, 

His much afflicted mother. 

The LADY MARGARET MACDONALD, 

Daughter to the Earl of Eglintoune, 

Erected this Monument, 

A. D. 1768.* 

* This extraordinary young man, whom I had the pleasure of knowing in- 
timately, having been deeply regretted by his country, the most minute particu- 
lars concerning him must be interesting to many. I shall therefore insert his two 
last letters to his mother. Lady Margaret Macdonald, which her ladyship has 
been pleased so communicate to me. 

"My Dear Mother, Rome, July 9th, 1766. 

"YESTERDAY'S post brought me your answer to the first letter in 
which I acquainted you of my illness. Your tenderness and concern upon that 
account are the same I Iiave always experienced, and to which I have often owed 
my life. Indeed it never was in so great danger as it has been lately ; and though 
it would ha,ve been a very great comfort to me to have had you near me, yet per- 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 13S 

Dr. Johnson said, the inscription should have been \ 
in Latin, as every thing intended to be universal and j 
permanent, should be. .^.--^ 

This being a beautiful day, my spirits were cheered 
by the mere effect of climate. I had felt a return of 
spleen during my stay at Armidale, and had it not been 
that I had Dr. Johnson to contemplate, I should have 
sunk into dejection ; but his firmness supported me. I 
looked at him, as a man whose head is turning giddy at 
sea looks at a rock, or any fixed object. I wondered at 
his tranquillity. He said, " Sir, when a man retires into 

haps I ought to rejoice, on your account, that you had not the pain of such a spec- 
tacle. I have been now a week in Rome, and wish 1 could continue to give you 
the saine good accounts of my recovery as I did in my last : but I must own that, 
for three days past, I have been in a very weak and miserable state, which how- 
ever seems to give no uneasiness to my physician. My stomach has been greatly 
out of order, without any visible cause ; and the palpitation does not decrease. I 
am told that my stomach will soon recover its tone, and that the palpitation must 
cease in time. So I am willing to believe ; and with this hope support the little 
remains of spirits which I can be supposed to have, on the forty -seventh day of 
such an illness. Do not imagine I have relapsed ; — I only recover slower than I 
expected. If my letter is shorter than usual, the cause of it is a dose of physick, 
which has weakened me so much to-day, that I am not able to write a long letter- 
I will make up for it next post, and remain always 

Your most sincerely aifectionate son, 

J. Macdonald." 

He grew gradually worse ; and on the night before his death he wrote as fol- 
lows, from Frescati : 

"My Dear Mother, 

" THOUGH I did not mean to deceive you in my last letter from 
Rome, yet certainly you would have very little reason to conclude of the very great 
and constant danger I have gone through ever since that time. My life, which is 
still alfnost entirely desperate, did not at that time appear to me so, otherwise I 
should have represented, in its true colours, a fact which acquires very little horror 
by that means, and comes with redoubled force by deception. There is no cir- 
cumstance of danger and pain of which I have not had the experience, for a 
continued series of above a fortnight; during which time I have settled myaftairs, 
after my death, with as much distinctness as the hurry and nature of the thing- 
could admit of. In case of the wor.st, the Abbe Grant will be my executor in this 
part of the world, and Mr. Mackenzie in Scotland, where my object has been to 
make you and my younger brother as independent of the eldest as possible." 



134 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

an island, he is to turn his thoughts entirely on another 
world. He has done with this." — BoswelL " It appears 
to me, sir, to be very difficult to unite a due attention to 
this world, and that which is to come ; for, if we en- 
gage eagerly in the affairs of life, we are apt to be totally 
forgetful of a future state ; and, on the other hand, a 
steady contemplation of the awful concerns of eternity 
renders all objects here so insignificant, as to make us 
indifferent and negligent about them." — Johnson. " Sir, 
Dr. Cheyne has laid down a rule to himself on this sub- 
ject, which should be imprinted on every mind : * To 

* neglect nothing to secure my eternal peace^ more than 
' if I had been certified I should die within the day : nor 

* to mind any thing that my secular obligations and duties 

* demanded ofime, less than if I had been ensured to live 
''fifty years 7nore.^^ 

I must here observe, that though Dr. Johnson ap- 
peared now to be philosophically calm, yet his genius 
did not shine forth as in companies, where I have listen- 
ed to him with admiration. The vigour of his mind, 
was, however, sufficiently manifested, by his discover- 
ing no symptoms of feeble relaxation in the dull, ' weary, 
flat, and unprofitable' state in which we now were placed. 

I am inclined to think that it was on this day he 
composed the following Ode upon the Isle of Sky ^ which 
a few days afterwards he shewed me at Rasay : 

ODA. 

Ponti jirofimdis clausa recessibua, 
Strefiens procellis., rufiibus obsiid, 
Qumn grata defesso virentem 
Skia sinum ncbulosa pandis. 

His cura^ credo, sedibus exulat ; 
His blanda certe pax habitat locis ; 



TO THE HEBRIDES. -13'5 

j^on ira, non moeror quietis 
Insidias meditatur horis. 

At nan cavata rufie latescerCf 
3Ienti nee <egrie montibus aviis 
Prodest vagari, nee frementes 
E scopulo numerare Jluctus. 

Humana -virtus non sibi sufficit^ 
Datur nee aquum cuique animum szSl 
JParare fiosse, ut Stoicorum 
Secta crepet nimis altafallax. 

ExdEstuantis pectoris impetum^ 
Hex summey solus tu regis arbiter, 
JMientisque, te tollente, surgunt, 
Te recidunt moderante Jluctus."* 

After supper, Dr. Johnson told us, that Isaac Haw- 
kins Browne drank freely for thirty years, and that he 
wrote his poem De Animi Immortalitate, in some of the 
last of these years. — I listened to this with the eager- 
ness of one, who, cqnscious of being himself fond of 
wine, is glad to hear that a man of so much genius and 
good thinking as Browne, had the same propensity, 

Monday, 6th September. 

We set out, accompanied by Mr. Donald M'Leod? 
(late of Canna) as our guide. We rode for some time 
along the district of Slate, near the shore. The houses 
in general are made of turf covered with grass. The 

• Various Readings. 
Line 2. In the manuscript. Dr. Johnson, instead of rupibus obsita, had writ- 
ten imbribus uvida, and uvida nubibus, but struck them both out. 

Lines 15 & 16. Instead of these two lines, he had written, but afterward* 
§tf «ck out, the following : 

Parare poss^, utcunque jactet 
Craniiloquus nijivs alia Zenc. . 



M 



136'' ■ JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

country seemed well peopled. We came into the dis- 
trict of Strath, and passed along a wild moorish tract 
of land till we arrived at the shore. There we found 
good verdure, and some curious whin-rocks, or collec- 
tions of stones like the ruins of the foundations of old 
buildings. We saw also three Cairns of considerable 
size. About a mile beyond Broadfoot, is Corrichata. 
chin, a farm of Sir Alexander Macdonald's, possessed 
by Mr. M'Kinnon,* who received us with a hearty wel- 
come, as did his wife, who was what we call in Scotland . 
a lady-like woman. Mr. Pennant, in the course of his 
tour to the Hebrides, passed two nights at this gentle- 
man's house. On its being mentioned, that a present 
had here been made to him of a curious specimen of 
Highland antiquity. Dr. Johnson said, " Sir, it was more 
than he deserved: the dog is a whig." 

We here enjoyed the comfort of a table plentifully 
furnished, the satisfaction of which was heightened by 
a numerous and cheerful company ; and we for the first 
time had a specimen of the joyous social manners of the 
inhabitants of the Highlands. They talked in their own 
ancient language, with fluent vivacity, and sung many 

* That my readers may have my narrative in the style of the country through 
which I am travelling, it is proper to inform thena, that the chief of a clan is de- 
nominated by his surname alone, as M'Leod, M'Kinnon, M'Intosh. To prefix 
3fr. to it would be a degradation from the M'Leod, Sec. My old friend, the Laird 
of M'Farlane, the great antiquary, took it highly amiss, when General Wade 
called him jlir. M'Farlane. Dr. Johnson said, he could not bring himself to use 
this mode of address ; it seemed to him to be too familiar, as it is the way in 
which, in all other places, intimates or inferiors are addressed. W'hen the chiefs 
have titles tliey are denominated by them, as Sir ymnes Grant, Sir Allan M'Leaii. 
The other Highland gentlemen, of landed property, are denominated by their es- 
tates, as Rasay, Boisdale; and the wives of all of them bave the title of ladies. 
The tacksme-n, or principal tenants, are named by their farms, as Kiv.gsburgh, Cor- 
richatachin ; and their wives are called the inistress of Kingsbr.rgh, the Tnistress of 

Corrichatachin. Having given this explanation, I am at liberty to use that 

mode of speech v.hich generally prevails in the Highlands, and the Hebrides. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 137 

Erse songs with such spirit, that though Dr. Johnson 
was treated with the greatest respect and attention, there 
were moments in which he seemed to be forgotten. For 
myself, though but a Lowlander, having picked up a 
few words of the language, I presumed to mingle in 
their mirth, and joined in the chorusses with as much 
glee as any of the company. Dr. Johnson, being fa- 
tigued with his journey, retired early to his chamber, 
where he composed the following Ode, addressed to 
Mrs. Thrale. 

ODA. 

Permeo terras, ubi nuda rufies 
Saxeas miscet nebulis ruinasy 
Torva ubi rident steriles coloni 

Rura labores. 

Pervagor gentes, hominumferorum 
Vita ubi nulla decorata cultu 
Squallet informis.) tugurique fumis 

Fceda latescit.- , 

Inter erroris salebrosa longiy 
Inter ignota strefiitus loguelcSf 
Quot modis mecum, quid agat, reguiro, 
Thralia dulcis ? 

Seu viri curas fiia nufita mulcet, 
Seujbvet mater sobolem benigna^ 
Sive cum libris novitate fiascet 

Sedula mentem j 

Sit memor nostri,Jideique merces, 
Stetjides constans, muritoque blandum 
Thralice discant resonare nomen 

Littora Skice. 

SCriptum in SkiS, Sept. 6, 1773. 




JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

Tuesday^ 1th September. 

Dr. Johnson was much pleased with his entertain- 
itt^nt here. There were many good books in the 
house : Hector Boethius in Latin ; Cave's Lives of 
the Fathers ; Baker's Chronicle ; Jeremy Collier's 
Church History ; Dr. Johnson's small Dictionary ; 
Craufurd's Officers of State, and several more : — a 
mezzotinto of Mrs. Brooks the actress (by some 
strange chance in Sky) ; and also a print of Macdon- 
ald of Clanranald, with a Latin inscription about the 
cruelties after the battle of CuUoden, which will never 
be forgotten. 

It was a very wet stormy day ; we were therefore 
obliged to remain here, it being impossible to cross the 
sea to Rasay. 

I employed a part of the forenoon in writing this 
Journal. The rest of it was somewhat dreary from 
the gloominess of the weather, and the uncertain state 
which we were in, as we could not tell but it might 
clear up every hour. Nothing is more painful to the 
mind than a state of suspence, especially when it de- 
pends upon the weather, concerning which there can be 
so little calculation. As Dr. Johnson, said of our wea- 
riness on the Monday at Aberdeen, " Sensation is sen- 
sation :" Corrichatachin, which was last night a hospita- 
ble house, was, in my mind, changed to-day into a pri- 
son. — After dinner I read some of Dr. Macpherson's 
Dissertations on the Ancient Caledonians. I was dis- 
gusted by the unsatisfactory conjectures as to antiquity 
before the days of record. I was happy when tea 
came. Such, I take it, is the state of those who live 
in the country. Meals are wished for from the crav- 
ings of vacuity of mind, as weli as from, the desire 




TO THE HEBRIlii^. 

of eating. I was hurt to find even such a temporary 
feebleness, and that I was so far from being that robust 
wise man who is sufficient for his own happiness. I 
felt a kind of lethargy of indolence. I did not exert: 
myself to get Dr. Johnson to talk, that I might not have 
the labour of writing down his conversation. — He en- 
quired here, if there were any remains of the second 
sight. Mr. M'Pherson, minister of Slate, said, he was 
resolved not to believe it, because it was founded on no 
principle.— JbA/2^o«- " There are many things, then, 
which we are sure are true, that you will not believe. 
What principle is there, why a loadstone attracts iron ? 
why an Q^g produces a chicken by heat ? why a tree 
grows upwards, when the natural tendency of all things 
is downwards ? Sir, it depends upon the degree of evi- 
dence that you have." Young Mr. M'Kinnon men- 
tioned one M'Kenzie, who is still alive, who had often 
fainted in his presence, and when he recovered, men- 
tioned visions which had been presented to him. He 
told Mr. M'Kinnon, that at such a place he should meet 
a funeral, and that such and such people would be the 
bearers, naming four ; and three weeks afterwards he 
saw what M'Kenzie had predicted. The naming the 
very spot in a country were a funeral comes a long way, 
and the very people as bearers, when there are so many 
out of whom a choice may be made, seems extraordi- 
nary. — We should have sent for M'Kenzie, had we 
not been informed that he could speak no English. 
Besides, the facts were not related with sufficient accu- 
racy. 

Mrs. M'Kinnon, who is a daughter of old Kings- 
burgh, told us that her father was one day riding in 
Sky, and some women, who were at work in a field on 
the side of the road, said to him, they had heard two 



i4(k ;• JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

taiscks, (that is, two voices of persons about to die,) 
and what was remarkable, one of them was an English 
taisck, which they never heard before. When he 
returned, he at that very place met two funerals, and one 
of them was that of a woman who had come from the 
main land, and could speak only English. This, she re- 
marked, made a great impression upon her father. 

How all the people here were lodged, I know not. 
It was partly done by separating man an I wife, and 
putting a number of men in one room, and of women 
in aaocher. 

Wednesdat/, Sth Septe?nber. 

When I awaked, the rain was much heavier than 
yesterday ; but the wind had abated. By breakfast, 
the day was better, and in a little while it was calm and 
clear. 1 felt my spirits much elated. The propriety of 
the expression, " the sunshine of the breast,^^ now struck 
me with peculiar force ; for the brilliant rays penetrated 
into my very soul. We were all in better humour than 
before. Mrs. M'Kinnon, with unaffected hospitality 
and politeness, expressed her happiness in having such 
company in her house, and appeared to understand and 
relish Dr. Johnson's conversation, as indeed all the com- 
pany seemed to do. When I knew she was old Kings- 
burgh's daughter, I did not wonder at the good appear- 
ance which she made. 

She talked as if her husband and family would emi- 
grate, rather than be oppressed by their landlord ; and 
said, " how agreeable would it be, if these gentlemen 
should come in upon us when we are in America." — 
Somebody observed that Sir Alexander Macdonald was 
always frightened at sea. — Johnson. " He is frightened 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 141 

at sea ; and his tenants are frightened when he comes 
Poland." 

We resolved to set out directly after breakfast. We 
had about two miles to ride to the sea-side, and there 
we expected to get one of the boats belonging to the 
fleet of bounty herring-busses then on the coast, or at 
least a good country fishing boat. But while we were 
preparing to set out, there arrived a man with the follow- 
ing card from the Reverend Mr. Donald M'Queen : 

" Mr. M'Queen's compliments to Mr. Boswell, and 
" begs leave to acquaint him that, fearing the want of a 
" proper boat, as much as the rain of yesterday, might 
*' have caused a stop, he is now at Skianwden with 
*' Macgillichallum's* carriage, to convey him and Dr. 
" Johnson to Rasay, where they will meet with a most'' 
" hearty welcome, and where Macleod, being on a visit, 
" now attends their motions." 

" Wednesday afternoon.'''' 

This card was most agreeable ; it was a prologue to 
that hospitable and truly polite reception, which we found 
at Rasay. In a little while arrived Mr. Donald M'Queen 
himself ; a decent minister, an elderly man with his own 
black hair, courteous, and rather slow of speech, but 
candid, sensible and well informed, nay learned. Along 
with him came, as our pilot, a gentleman whom I had a 
great desire to see, Mr. Malcolm Macleod, one of the 
Rasay family, celebrated in the year 1745-6. He was 
now sixty-two years of age, hale, and well proportion- 
ed, — with a manly countenance, tanned by the weather, 
yet having a ruddiness in his cheeks, over a great part 
of which his rough beard extended. — His eye was quick 
and lively, yet his look was not fierce, but he appeared 

* The Highland expression for Laird of Rasay. 



142 '"' JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

at once firm aiid good-humoured. He wore a pair of 
brogues, — Tartan hose which came up only near to his 
knees, and left them bare, — ^a purple camblet kilt, — a 
black waistcoat, — a short green clodi coat bound with 
gold cord,- — a yellowish bushy wig, — a large blue bon- 
net with a gold thread button. I never saw a figure that 
gave a more perfect representation of a Highland gen- 
tleman. I wished much to have a picture of him just 
as he was. I found him frank and polite, in the true 
sense of the word. 

The good family at Corrichatachin said, they hoped 
to see us on our return. We rode down to the shore ; 
but Malcolm walked with graceful agility. 

We got into Rasay's carriage, which was a good 
strong open boat made in Norway. The wind had now 
risen pretty high, and was against us ; but we had four 
stout rowers, particularly a Macleod, a robust, black- 
haired fellow, half naked, and bare-headed, something 
between a wild Indian and an English tar. Dr. John- 
son sat high on the stem, like a magnificent Triton. 
Malcolm sung an Erse song, the chorus of which was 
'■'■ Hatyin foam foam eri^^'' with words of his own. The 
tune resembled " Oivr the miiir amang the heather,'''* 
The boatmen and Mr. McQueen chorused, and all went 
well. At length Malcolm himself took an oar, and 
rowed vigorously. We sailed along the coast of Scalpa, 
a rugged island, about four miles in length. Dr. John- 
son proposed that he and I should buy it, and found a 
good school, and an episcopal church, (Malcolm said, he 
would come to it,) and have a printing-press, where he 
would print all the Erse that could be found. 

Here I was strongly struck with our long projected 
scheme of visiting the Hebrides being realized. I call- 
ed to him, " We are contending with seas;" which I 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 143 

thiiik were the words of one of his letters to me. " Not 
much," said he ; and though the wind made the sea 
lash considerably upon us, he was not discomposed. Af- 
ter we were out of the shelter of Scalpa, and in the 
sound between it and Rasay, which extended about a 
league, the wind made the sea very rough. I did not 
like it. — Johnson. " This now is the Atlantick. If I 
should tell at a tea-table in London, that I have crossed 
the Atlantic in an open boat, how they'd shudder, and 
what a fool they'd think me to expose myself to suck 
danger ?" He then repeated Horace's ode, 
Otium Divos rogat in patenti 

Prensus M,g£eo . 

In the confusion and hurry of this boisterous sail, 
Dr. Johnson's spurs, of which Joseph had charge, were 
carried over- board into the sea, and lost. This was the 
Srst misfortune that has befallen us. Dr. Johnson was 
a little angry at first, observing that " there was something 
wild in letting a pair of spurs be carried into the sea out 
of a boat ;" but then he remarked, " that, as James the 
naturalist had said upon losing his pocket-book, it was 
rather an inconvenience than a loss." He told us, he 
now recollected that he dreamt the night before, that 
he put his staif into a river, and chanced to let it go, 
and it was carried down the stream and lost. " So now 
you see, (said he,) that I have lost my spurs ; and this 
story is better than many of those which we have con- 
cerning second sight and dreams." Mr. M'Queen said 
he did not believe the second sight ; that he never met 
with any well attested instances ; and if he should, he 
should impute them to chance ; because all who pretend 
to that quality often fail in their predictions, though they 
take a great scope, and sometimes interpret literally, 
sometimes figuratively, so as to suit the- events. He 



144 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

told us, that, since he came to be minister of the parish 
where he now is, the belief of witchcraft, or charms, 
was very common, insomuch that he had many prose- 
cutions before his session (the parochial ecclesiastical 
court) against women, for having by these means carried 
off the milk from people's cows. He disregarded them ; 
and there is not now the least vestige of that supersti- 
tion. He preached against it ; and in order to give a 
strong proof to the people that there was nothing in it, 
he said from the pulpit, that every woman in the parish 
was welcome to take the milk from his cows, provided 
^he did not touch them. 

Dr. Johnson asked him as to Fingal. He said he 
could repeat some passages in the original, that he heard 
' his grandfather had a copy of it ; but that he could not 
affirm that Ossian composed all that poem as it is now 
published. This came pretty nmch to what Dr. John- 
son had maintained; though he goes farther, and con- 
tends that it is no better than such an epick poem as he 
could make from the song of Robin Hood ; that is to 
say, that, except a few passages, there is nothing truly 
ancient but the names and some vague traditions. Mr. 
M'Queen alledged that Homer was made up of detach- 
ed fragments. Dr. Johnson denied this ; observing, 
that it had be^n one work originally, and that you could 
not put a book of the Iliad out of its place ; and he be- 
lieved the same might be said of the Odyssey. 

The appfoach to Rasay was veiy pleasing. We 
saw before us a beautiful bay, well defended by a rocky- 
coast ; a good family mansion ; a fine verdure about it, 
— with a considerable number of trees ; — and beyond 
it hills and mountains in gradation of wildness. Our 
boatmen sung with great spirit. Dr. Johnson observ- 
ed, that naval musick was very ancient. As we came 



TO THE liEBRIDES. 145 

near the shore, the singing of our rowers was succeeded 
by that of reapers, who were busy at work, and who 
seemed to shout as much as to sing, while they work- 
ed with a bounding activity. Just as we landed, I ob- 
served a cross, or rather the ruins of one, upon a rock, 
which had to me a pleasing vest%e of religion. 1 per- 
ceived a large company coming out from the house. 
We met them as we walked up. There were Rasay 
himself; his brother Dr. Macleod ; his nephew the 
Laird of M'Kinnon ; the Laird of Macleod ; Colonel 
Macleod of Talisker, an officer in the Dutch service, a 
very genteel man, and a faithful branch of the family ; 
Mr. Macleod of Muiravenside, best known by the name 
of Sandie Macleod, who was long in exile on account of 
the part which he took in 1745 ; and several other per- 
sons. We were welcomed upon the green, and con- 
ducted into the house, where we were introduced to 
Lady Rasay, who was surrounded by a numerous fa- 
mily, consisting of three sons and ten daughters. The 
laird of Rasay is a sensible, polite, and most hospitable 
gentleman. I was told that his island of Rasay, and 
that of Rona, (from v/hich the eldest son of the family 
has his title,) and a considerable extent of land which he 
has in Sky, do not altogether yield him a very large re- 
venue ; and yet he lives in great splendour ; and so far 
is he from distressing his people, that, in the present 
rage for emigration, not a man has left his estate. 

It was past six o'clock when we arrived. Some ex- 
cellent brandy was served round immediately, accord- 
ing to the custom of the Highlands, where a dram is ge- 
nerally taken every day. They call it a scalch. On a 
sideboard was placed for us, who had come off the 
sea, a substantial dinner, and a variety of wines. Then 
we had coffee and tea. I observed in the room several 



146 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

elegantly bound books, and other -marks of improved, 
life. Soon afterwards a fiddler appeared, and a tittle ball 
began. Rasay himself danced with as much spirit as 
any man, and Malcolm bounded like a roe. Sandie 
Macleod, who has at times an excessive flow of spirits, 
and had it now, was in his days of absconding, known 
by the name of J/' Cruslick^ which it seems was the de- 
signation of a kind of wild man in the Highlands, some- 
thing between Proteus and Don Quixotte ; and so he 
was called here. He made much jovial noise. Dr. 
Johnson was so delighted with this scene, that he said, 
" I know not how we shall get away." It entertained 
me to observe him sitting by, while we danced, some- 
times in deep meditation, — sometimes smiling compla- 
cently, — sometimes looking upon Hooke's Roman His- 
tory, — and sometimes talking a little, amidst the noise 
of the ball, to Mr. Donald M'Queen, who anxiously 
gathered knowledge from him. He was pleased vn\S\ 
M' Queen, and said to me, " This is a critical man, sir. 
There must be great vigour of mind to make him cul- 
tivate learning so much in the isle of Sky, where he 
might do without it. It is wonderful how many of the 
new publications he has. There must be a snatch of 
every opportunity." Mr. M'Queen told me that his 
brother (who is the fourth generation of the family fol- 
lowing each other as ministers of the parish of Snizort,) 
and he joined together, and bought from time to time 
such books as had reputation. Soon after we came in, 
a black cock and grey hen, which had been shot, were 
shewn, with their feathers on, to Dr. Johnson, who had 
never seen that species of bird before. We had a com- 
pany of thirty at supper; and all was good humour and 
■gaiety, without intemperance. 



to THE HEBRIDES. 



Thursday^ 9th September ^ 

At breakfast this morning, among a profusion of 
other things, there were oat cakes, made of what is call- 
ed gradanedme^il, that is, meal made of grain separated 
from the husks, and toasted by fire, instead of being- 
threshed and kiln-dried. This seems to be bad manage- 
ment, as so much fodder is consumed by it. Mr. 
M'Queen however defended it, by saying, that it is 
doing the thing much quicker, as one operation effects 
what is otherwise done by two. His chief reason how- 
ever was, that the servants in Sky are, according to him, 
a faithless pack, and steal what they can ; so that much 
is saved by the corn passing but once through their 
hands, as at each time they pilfer some. It appears to 
me, that the gradaning is a strong proof of the laziness 
of the Highlanders, who will rather make fire act for 
them, at the expense of fodder, than labour themselves. 
There was also, what I cannot help disliking at break- 
fast, cheese : it is the custom over all the Highlands to 
have it, and it often smells very strong, and poisons to'a 
certain degree the elegance of an Indian repast. The 
day was showery; however, Rasay and I took a walk, 
and had some cordial conversation. I conceived a more 
than ordinary regard for this worthy gentleman. His 
family has possessed this island above four hundred 
years. It is the remains of the estate of Macleod of 
Lewis, whom he represents. When we returned. Dr. 
Johnson walked with us to see the old chapel. He was 
in fine spirits. He said, " This is truly the patriarchal 
life : this is what we came to find." 

After dinner, M'Cru slick, Malcolm, and I, v.'cnt out 
with guns, to try if we could find any black-cock ; but 



148 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

we had no sport, owing to a heavy rain. I saw here 
what is called a Danish fort. Our evening was passed 
as last night was. One of our company, 1 was told, had 
hurt himself by too much study, particularly of infidel 
metaphysicians, of which he gave a proof on second 
sight being mentioned. He immediately retailed some 
of the fallacious arguments of Voltaire and Hume 

o 

against miracles in general. Infidelity in a Highland 
gentleman appeared to me peculiarly offensive. I was 
sorry for him, as he had otherwise a good character. I 
told Dr. Johnson that he had studied himself into infi- 
delity. — Johnson. " Then he must study himself out of 
it again. That is the way. Drinking largely will sober 
him again." 

Friday^ \Oth September. 

Having resolved to explore the island of Rasay, 
which could be done only on foot, I last night obtained 
my fellow traveller's permission to leave him for a day, 
he being unable to take so hardy a walk. Old Mr. 
Malcolm M'Cleod, who had obligingly promised to ac- 
compan}^ me, was at my bedside between five and six. 
I sprang up immediately, and he and I, attended by two 
other gentlemen, traversed the country during the whole 
of this day. Though we had passed over not less than 
four and twenty miles of very rugged ground, and had 
a Highland dance on the top of Dun Can^ the highest 
mountain in the island, we returned in the evening not 
at all fatigued, and piqued ourselves at not being out- 
done at the nightly ball, by our less active friends, who 
had remained at home. 

My survey of Rasay did not furnish much which 
can interest my readers ; I shall therefore put into as 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 149 

«hort a compass as I can, the observations upon it, which 
I find registered in my Journal. It is about fifteen Eng- 
lish miles long, and fiaur broad. On the south side is 
the laird's family seat, situated on a pleasing low spot. 
The old tower of three stories, mentioned by Martin, 
was taken down soon after 1746, and a modern house 
supplies its place. There are very good grass fields, 
and corn lands about it, well dressed. I observed, how- 
ever, hardly any inclosures, except a good garden plen- 
tifully stocked with vegetables, and strawberries, rasp- 
berries, currants, &c. 

On one of the rocks just where we landed, which 
are not high, there is rudely carved a square, with a 
crucifix in the middle. Here, it is said, the Lairds of 
Rasay, in old times, used to offer up their devotions. 
I could not approach the spot, without a grateful recol- 
lection of the event commemorated by this symbol. 

A little from the shore, westward, is a kind of sub- 
terraneous house. There has been a natural fissure, or 
separation of the rock, running towards the sea, which 
has been roofed over with long stones, and above them 
turf has been laid. In that place the inhabitants used 
to keep their oars. There are a number of trees near 
the house, which grow well ; some of them of a pretty 
good size. They are mostly plane and ash. A little 
to the west of the house is an old ruinous chapel, un- 
roofed, which never has been very curious. We here 
saw some human bones of an uncommon size. There 
was a heel-bone, in particular, which Dr. Macleod said 
was such, that, if the foot was in proportion, it must 
have been twenty-seven inches long. Dr. Johnson 
would not look at the bones. He started back from 
them with a striking appearance of horrour. Mr. 
M'Queen told us, it was formerly much the custom, 



150 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

in these isles, to have human bones lying above grouiid 
especially in the windows of churches. On the south 
of the chapel is the family burying-place. Above the 
door, on the east end of it, is a small bust or image of 
the Virgin Mary, carved upon a stone which makes 
part of tlie wall. There is no church upon the island. 
It is annexed to one of the parishes of Sky ; and the 
minister comes, and preaches either in Rasay's house, 
or some other house on certain Sundays. I could not 
but value the family seat more, for having even the 
ruins of a chapel close to it. There was something 
comfortable in the thought of being so near a piece of 
consecrated ground. Dr. Johnson said, " I look with 
reverence upon eveiy place that has been set apa:it for 
rehgion;" and he kept off his hat while he "was 
within the walls of the chapel. 

The eight crosses, which Martin mentions as pyra- 
mids for deceased ladies, stood in a semicircular line, 
which contained within it the chapel. They marked 
out the boundaries of the sacred territory within which 
an asylum was to be had. One of them, which we ob- 
served upon our landing, made the first point of the 
semicircle. There are few of them novi' remaining. A 
good way farther north, there is a row of buildings 
about four feet high : they run from the shore on the 
east along the top of a pretty high eminence, and so 
down to the shore on the west, in much the same di- 
rection wath the crosses. Rasay took them to be the 
marks for the asylum ; but Malcolm thought them to 
be false sentinels, a common deception, of which in- 
stances occur in Martin, to make invaders imagine an 
island better guarded. Mr, Donald M'Queen, justly 
in my opinion, supposed the crosses which form the in- 
ner circle to be the church's land-marks. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 151 

The south end of the island is much covered with 
large stones, or rocky strata. The laird has enclosed 
and planted part of with firs, and he shewed me a con- 
siderable space marked out for additional plantations. 

Dun Can is a mountain three computed miles from 
the laird's house. The ascent to it is by consecutive 
risings, if that expression may be used when vallies in- 
tervene, so that there is but a short rise at once ; but it 
is certainly veryf|bigh above the sea. The palm of alti- 
tude is disputed for by the people of Rasay and those 
of Sky ; the former contending for Dun Can, the lat- 
ter for the mountains in Sk}-, over- against it. We 
wti0^ up the east side of -Dun Can pretty easily. It is 
mostly rocks all around, the points of which hem the 
summit of it. Sailors, to whom it was a good object 
as they pass along, call it Rasay's cap. Before we 
reached this mountain, we passed by two lakes. Of 
the first, Malcolm told me a strange fabulous tradition. 
He said, there was a wild beast in it, a sea-horse, which 
came and devoured a man's daughter ; upon which the 
man lighted a great fire, and had a sow roasted at it, the 
smell of which attracted the monster. In the fire was 
put a spit. The man lay concealed behind a low wall 
of loose stones, and he had an avenue formed for the 
monster, with two rows of large flat stones, wdiich ex- 
tended from the fire over the summit of the hill, till it 
reached the side of the loch. The monster came, and 
the man with the red-hot spit destroyed it. Malcolm 
shevv^ed me the little hiding-place, and the rows of stones 
He did not laugh when he told this story. I recollect 
having seen in the Scots Magazine, several years ago, 
a poem upon a similar tale, perhaps the same, translat- 
ed from the Erse, or Irish, called Albhj. and the Daugh- 
ter ofMey, 



152 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

There is a large tract of land, possessed as a com- 
mon in Rasay. They have no regulations as to the 
number of cattle. Every man puts upon it as many as 
he chooses. From Dun Can northward, till you reach 
the other end of the island, there is much good natural 
pasture unincumbered by stones. We passed over a 
spot, which is appropriated for the exercising ground. 
In 1745, a hundred fighting men were reviewed here, 
as Malcolm told me, who was one of the officers that led 
them to the field. They returned home all but about 
fourteen. What a princely thing it is to be able to fur- 
nish such a band ! Rasay has the true spirit of a chief. 
He is, without exaggeration, a father to his people. 

There is plenty of lime-stone in the island, a great 
quarry of free-stone, and some natural woods, but none 
of any age, as they cut the trees for common country 
uses. The lakes, of which there are many, are well 
stocked with trout. Malcolm catched one of four-and- 
twenty pounds weight in the lock next to Dun Can, 
which, by the way, is certainly a Danish name, as most 
names of places in these islands are. 

The old castle, in. which the family of Rasay for- 
merly resided, is situated upon a rock very near the sea. 
The rock is not one mass of stone, but a concretion of 
pebbles and earth, so firm that it does not appear to have 
mouldered. In this remnant of antiquity I found nothing 
worthy of being noticed, except a certain accommoda- 
tion rarely to be found at the modern houses of Scot- 
land, and which Dr. Johnson and I sought for in vain 
at the Laird of Rasay's new-built mansion, where 
nothing else was wanting. I took the liberty to tell the 
Laird it was a shame there should be such a deficiency 
in civilized times. He acknowledged the justice of the 
remark. But perhaps some generations may pass before 



'M 



m>-rrBE HEBRIDES. 15S 

the want is supplied. Dr. Johnson observed to ftie, how 
quietly people will endure an evii, which they might at 
any time very easily remedy ; and mentioned as an in- 
stance, that the present family of Rasay had possessed 
the island for more than four hundred years, and never 
made a commodious landing place, though a few men 
with pickaxes might have cut an ascent of stairs out of 
any part of the rock in a week's time. 

The north l^d of Rasay is as rocky as the south 
end. From it I saw the little isle of Fladda, belonging 
to Rasay, all fine green ground : — and Rona, which is 
of so rocky a soil that it appears to be a pavement. I 
was told however that it has a great deal of grass, in the 
interstices. The Laird has it all in his own hands. At 
this end of the island of Rasay is a cave in a striking 
situation. It is in a recess of a great cleft, a good way 
up from the sea. Before it the ocean roars, being dash- 
ed against monstrous broken rocks ; grand and awful 
propugnacula. On the right hand of it is a longitudinal 
cave, very low at the entrance, but higher as you ad- 
vance. The sea having scooped it out, it seems strange 
mA unaccountable that the interior part, where the water 
must have operated with less force, should be loftier 
than that which is more immediately exposed to its vio - 
lence. The roof of it is all covered with a kind of 
petrifications formed by drops, which perpetualty di||il 
from it. The first cave has been a place of much safe- 
ty. — I find a great difficulty in describing visible objects. 
I must own too that the old castle and cave, like many 
other things, of which one hears much, did ^^ answer 
my expectations. People are every v^diere apt to mag- 
nify the curiosities of their country. 

This island has abundance of black cattle, sheep. 
and goats;-— a good many horses, which are used #)r 



154 JXiURNAL OF A TOUR 

ploughing, carrying out dung, and other works of hus- 
bandry. I beheve the people never ride. There arc 
indeed no roads through the island, unless a few detach- 
ed beaten tracks deserve that name. Most of the houses 
are upon the shore; so that all the people have little 
boats, and catch fish. There is great plenty of pota- 
toes here. There are black-cock in extraordinary abun- 
dance, moor-fowl, plover, and wild pigeons, which seem- 
ed to me to be the same as we have in pigeon houses, 
in their state of nature. Rasay has no pigeon house. 
There are no hares nor rabbits in the island, nor was there 
ever known to be a fox, till last year, when one was 
landed on it by some malicious person, without wh^|C 
aid he could not have got thither, as that animal is known 
to be a very bad swimmer. He has done much mis- 
chief. There is a great deal of fish caught in the sea 
round Rasay ; it is a place where one may live in plen- 
ty, and even in luxury. There are no deer ; but Rasay 
told us he would get some. 

They reckon it rains nine months in the year in this 
island, owing to its being directly opposite to the west- 
ern coast of Sky, where the watery clouds are broken 
by high mountains. The hills here, and indeed all the 
heathy grounds in general, abound with the sweet-smeL 
ling plant which the Highlanders call gaul, and (I think) 
with dwarf juniper in many places. There is enough 
of turf, which is their fuel, and it is thought there is a 
mine of coal. — Such are the observations which I made 
upon the island of Rasay, upon comparing it with the 
description given by Martin, whose book Ave had 
with us. 

There has been an ancient league between the fami- 
lies of Macdonald and Rasay. Whenever the head of 
either family dies, his s\vord is given to the head of the 



ii 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 155 

other. The present Rasay has the late Sir Janies Mac- 
donald's sword. Old Rasay joined the Highland army 
in 1745, but prudently guarded against a forfeiture, by 
previously conveying his estate to the present gentle- 
man, his eldest son. On that occasion. Sir Alexander, 
father of the late Sir James Macdonald, was very friend- 
ly to his neighbour. " Don't be afraid, Rasay, said he ; 
I'll use all my interest to keep you safe ; and if your 
estate should be taken, I'll buy it for the family." — 
And he would have done it. 

Let me now gather some gold dust, — some more 
fragments of Dr. Johnson's conversation, without regard 
to order of time. He said, " he thought very highly of 
Bentley ; that no man now went so far in the kinds of 
learning that he cultivated; that the many attacks on 
him were owing to env}^, and to a desire of being known, 
by being in competition with such a man ; that it was 
safe to attack him, because he never answered his op- 
ponents, but let them die away. It was attacking a man 
who would not beat them, because his beating them 
would make them live the longer. And he was right 
not to answer ; for, in his hazardous method of writing, 
he could not but be often enough wrong ; so it was bet- 
ter to leave things to their general appearance, than 
own himself to have erred in particulars." — He said, 
" Mallet was the prettiest drest puppet about town, and 
always kept good company J;That, from his w^ay of talk- 
ing, he saw, and always said, that he had not written 
any part of the Life of the Duke of Marlborough, 
though perhaps he intended to do it at some time, in 
which case he was not culpable in taking the pension. 
That he imagined the Duchess furnished the materials 
for her Apology, which Hooke wrote, and Hooke fur- 
nished the words and the order, and all that in which 



156 JOURNAL OF A TOtJR 

the art of writing consists. That the duchess had not 
superior parts, but was a bold frontless woman, who 
knew how to make the most of her opportunities in Ufe. 
That Hooke got a large sum of money for writing her 
Apology. That he wondered Hooke should have been 
weak enough to insert so profligate a maxim, as that to 
tell another's secret to one's friend, is no breach of con- 
fidence ; though perhaps Hooke, who was a virtuous- 
mian, as his History shews, and did not wish her well, 
though he wrote her Apology, might see its ill tendency, 
and yet insert it at her desire. He was acting only min- 
isterially." — I apprehend, however, that Hooke was 
bound to give his best advice. I speak as a lawyer. 
Though I have had clients whose causes I could not, as 
a private man, approve ; jQ.t, if I undertook them, I 
would not do any thing that might be prejudicial to 
them, even at their desire, without Avarning them of 
their danger. 

Saturday^ \lth September. 

It w\is a storm of wind arid rain : so we could not 
set out. I wrote some of this Journal, and talked awhile 
with D. . Johnson in his room, and passed the day, I 
cannot wcil say how, but very pleasantly. I was here 
amused to find Mr. Cumberland's comedy of the 
Fashionable Lover, in which he has very well drawn a 
Highland character, Colin M'CIeod, of the stime name 
with the family under whose roof we now were. Dr. 
Johnson was much pleased with the laird cf Macleod, 
who is indeed a most promising youth, and with a noble 
spirit struggles with difficulties, and endeavours to pre- 
serve his people. He has been left with an incumbrance 
of forty thousand pounds' debt, and annuities to the 



1& 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 157 

amount of thirteen hundred pounds a year. Dr. John- 
son said, " If he gets the better of all this, he'll be a 
hero ; and I hope he will. I have not met with a young 
man who had more desire to learn,, or who has learnt 
more. I have seen nobody that I wish more to do a, 
kindness to than Macleod." — Such was the honourable 
eulogium, on this young chieftain, pronounced by an ac- 
curate observer, whose praise was never lightly be- 
stowed. 

There is neither justice of peace, nor constable, in 
Rasay. Sky has Mr. M'Cleod of Ulinish, who is the 
sheriff substitute, and no other justice of peace. The 
want of the execution of justice is much felt among the 
islanders. Macleod very sensibly observed, that taking 
away the heritable jurisdictions had not been of such 
service in the islands, as was imagined. They had not 
authority enough in lieu of them. What could for- 
merly have been settled at once, must now either take 
much time and trouble, or be neglected. Dr. Johnson 
said, " A country is in a bad state, which is governed 
only by lav/s ; because a thousand things occur for 
which laws cannot provide, and where authority ought 
to interpose. Now destroying the authority of the 
chiefs set the people loose. It did not pretend to bring 
any positive good, but only to cure some evil : and I am 
not well enough acquainted with the countr}^ to know 
what degree of evil the heritable jurisdictions occasion- 
ed." — I maintained hardly any; because the chiefs gene- 
rally acted right, forthcir own sakes. 

Dr. Johnson was now wishing to move. There was 
not enough of intellectual entertainment for him, after 
he had satisfied his curiosity, which he did, by asking 
questions, till he had exhausted the island; and where 
there was so numerous a company, mostly young peg- 



158 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

pie, there was such a flow of familiar talk, so much 
noise, and so much singing and dancing, that little op- 
portunity was left for his energetick conversation. He 
seemed sensible of this ; for when I told him how hap- 
tpy they were at having him there, he said, " Yet we 
have not been able to entertain them much." — I was 
fretted, from irritability of nerves, by M'Cruslick's too 
obstreperous mirth. I complained of it to my friend, 
observing we should be better if he was gone. — " No, 
sir (said he). He puts something into our society, and 
takes nothing out of it." — Dr. Johnson, however, had 
several opportunities of instructing the company ; but I 
am sorry to say, that I did not pay sufficient attention- 
to what passed, as his discourse now turned chiefly on 
mechanicks, agriculture, and such subjects, rather than 
on science and wit. — Last night Lady Rasay shewed 
him the operation of wawking cloth, that is, thickening 
it in the same manner as is done by a mill. Here it is 
performed by women, who kneel upon the ground, and 
rub it with both their hands, singing an Erse song all 
the time. He was asking questions while they were 
performing this operation, and, amidst their loud and 
wild howl, his voice was heard even in the room above. 
They dance here every night. The queen of our 
ball was the eldest Miss Macleod, of Rasay, an elegant- 
well-bred woman, and celebrated for her beauty over all 
those regions, by the name of Miss Flora Rasay.* 
There seemed to be no jealousy, no discontent among 
them ; and the gaiety of the scene was such, that I for 
a moment dqubted whether unhappiness had any place 



* She had been some time at Edhibm-gh, to which she again went, and was 
married to my worthy neighbour. Colonel Mure Campbell, now Ear! of Lou- 
doun ; but she died soon afterwards, leaving one daughter. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 159 

in Rasay. But my delusion was soon dispelled, by re- 
collecting the following lines of my fellow traveller : 

'• Yet hope not life frojn pain or danger free, . 
*' Or think, the doom of man revers'd for thee 1" 

Sunday^ 12th September, 

It was a beautiful day, and although we did not ap- 
prove of travelling on Sunday, we resolved to set out, 
as we were in an island, from whence one must take 
occasion as it serves. Macleod and Talisker sailed in 
a,, boat of Rasay's for Sconser, to take the shortest way 
to Dunvegan. . M'Cruslick went with them to Sconser, 
from whence he was to go to Slate, and so to the main 
land. We were resolved to pay a visit at Kingsburgh, 
and see the celebrated Miss Flora Macdonald, who is 
married to the present Mr. Macdonald of Kingsburgh ; 
so took that road, though not so near. All the family, 
but Lady Rasay, walked down to the shore to see us de- 
part. Rasay himself went with us in a laj-ge boat, with 
eight oars, built in his island ; as did Mr. Malcolm 
M'Cleod, Mr. Donald M'Queen, Dr. Macleod, and 
some others. We had a most pleasant sail between 
Rasay and Sky ; and passed by a cave, where Martin 
says fowls were caught by lighting fire in the mouth of 
it. Malcolm remembers this. But it is not now prac- 
tised, as few fowls come into it. 

W"e spoke of death. Dr. Johnson on this subject 
observed, that the boastings of some men, as to dying 
easily, were idle talk, proceeding from partial views. I 
mentioned Hawthornden's Cypress-grove, where it is 
said that the world is a mere show ; and that it is un- 
3jeasonable for a mati to wish to continue in the show- 



16.0 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

room, after he has seen it. Let him go cheerfully out, 
and give place to other spectators. — Johnson. " Yes, 
sir, if he is sure he is to be well, after he goes out of it. 
But if he is to grow blind after he goes out of the show- 
room, and never to see any thing again ; or if he does 
not know whither he is to go next, a man will not go 
cheerfully out of a show-room. No wise man will be 
contented to die, if he thinks he is to go into a state of 
punishment. Nay, no wise man will be contented to 
die, if he thinks he is to fall into annihilation : for how- 
ever unhappy any man's existence may be, he yet would 
rather have it, than not exist at all. No ; there is no 
rational principle by which a man can die contented, 
but a trust in the mercy of God, through the merits of 
Jesus Christ." — This short sermon, delivered with an 
earnest tone, in a boat upon the sea, which was perfect- 
ly calm, on a day appropriated to religious worship, 
while every one listened with an air of satisfaction, had 
a most pleasing effect upon my mind. 

Pursuing the same train of serious reflection, he 
added, that it seemed certain that happiness could not 
be found in this life, because so many had tried to find 
it, in such a variety of ways, and had not found it. 

We reached the harbour of Portree, in Sky, which 
is a large and good one. There was lying in it a ves- 
sel to carry off the emigrants, called the 'JVestor. It 
made a short settlement of the differences between a 
chief and his clan : 

. — A''estor componere lites 



Intel" Peleiden festinat & inter Atriden, 

We approached her, and she hoisted her colours,. Dr. 
Johnson and Mr. M'Queen remained in the boat : Ra- 



\M- 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 161 

sliy aM 1, and the rest, went on board of her. She 
was a veiy pretty vessel, and, as we were told, the 
largest m Clyde. Mr. Harrison, the captain, shewed 
her to us. The cabin was commodious, and even 
elegant. There was a little library, finely bound. 
Portree has its name from King James the Fifth hav- 
ing landed there in his tour through the Western Isles, 
Ree in Erse being King, as Re is in Italian ; so it is 
Port-Royal. There was here a tolerable inn. On our 
landing, I had the pleasure of finding a letter from 
liome ; and there were also letters to Dr. Johnson and 
me from Lord Elibank, which had been sent after us 
from Edinburgh. — His lordship's letter to me was as 
follows: 

" Dear Boswell, 

" I flew to Edinburgh the moment I heard of Mr. 
Johnson's arrival ; but so defective was my intelligence 
ihat I came too late. 

" It is but justice to believe, that I could never for- 
give myself, nor deserve to be forgiven by others, if I 
was to fail in any mark of respect to that very great 
genius. — I hold him in the highest veneration ; for that 
very reason I was resolved to take no share in the me- 
rit, perhaps guilt, of enticing him to iionour this country 
with a visit. — I could not persuade myself there was any 
thing in Scotland worthy to have a summer of Samuel 
Johnson bestowed on it ; but since he has done us that 
compliment, for heaven's sake inform me of your mo- 
tions. I will attend them most religiously ; and though 
I should regret to let Mr. Johnson go a mile out of his 
way on my account, old as I am, I shall be glad to go 
five hundred miles to enjoy "a day of his company. 

^. Y 



162 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

Have the charity to send a council-post* with intelli- 
gence ; the post does not suit us in the country. — At 
any rate write to me. I will attend you in the north, 
when I shall know where to find you. 
" I am, 
;, " My dear Boswell, 

" Your sincerely 

" Obedient humble servant,^ 
" August 2lst, 1773. " Elibank." 

The letter to Dr. Johnson was in these words : 

*" Dear Sir, 
" I was to have kissed your hands at Edinburgh, 
the moment I heard of you ; but you was gone. 

" I hope my friend Boswell will inform me of your 
motions. It will be cruel to deprive me an instant of 
the honour of attending you. As I value you more than 
any King in Christendom, I will perform that duty with 
infinitely greater alacrity than any courtier. I can con- 
tribute but little to your entertainment ; but, my sin- 
cere esteem for you gives me some title to the oppor- 
tunity of expressing it. 

" I dare say you are by this time sensible that 
things are pretty much the same, as when Buchanan 
complained of being born solo et seculo mei'udito. Let 
me hear of you ; and be persuaded that none of your 
admirers is more sincerely devoted to you, than, 
" Dear Sir, 

" Your most obedient, 

" And most humble servant, 
" Elibank." 

* A term iu Scotland for a special messenger, such as was formerly sent with 
dispatches by the. lords of the co"uncil.- 



it 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 16.3 

Dr. Johnson, on the folJ owing Tuesday, answered 
for both of usj thus : 

"My Lord, 

" ON the rugged shore of Skie, I had the honour 
of your lordship's letter, and can with great truth de- 
clare, that no place is so gloomy but that it would be 
cheered by such a testimony of regard, from a mind so 
well qualified to estimate characters, and to deal out ap- 
probation in its due proportions. If I have more than 
my share, it is your lordship's fault ; for I have always 
reverenced your judgement too much, to exalt rnyself in 
your presence by any false pretensions. 

" Mr. Boswell and I are at present at the disposal 
of the winds, and therefore cannot fix the time at which 
we shall have the honour of seeing your lordship. But 
we should either of. us think ourselves injured, by the 
supposition that we would miss your lordship's conver- 
sation, when we could enjoy it ; for I have often decla- 
red that I never met you without going away a wiser 
man. 

^' I am, my Lord, 

" Your lordship's most obedient 
" And most humble servant, 
" Skie, Sept. 14, 1773. Sam. Johnson." 

At Portree, Mr. Donald M'Queen, went to church 
and officiated in Erse, and then came to dinner. Dr. 
Johnson and I resolved that we should treat the com- 
pany ; so I played the landlord, or master of the feast, 
having previously ordered Joseph to pay the bill. 

Sir James Macdonald intended to have built a vil- 
lage here, which v/ould have done great good. A vil- 
lage is like a heart to a CQuntry. It produces a perpetual 



• 



164 JOURNAL OF A TOUR ^ 

circulation, and gives the people an opportunity to make 
profit of many little articles, which would otherwise be 
in a good measure lost. We had here a dinner, et 
prater ea nihil. Dr. Johnson did not talk. When we 
were about to depart, we found that Rasay had been 
before-hand with us, and that ail was paid : I would 
fain have contested this matter with him, but seeing 
him resolved, I declined it. W^e parted with cordial 
embraces from him and worthy Malcolm. In the even- 
ing Dr. Johnson and I remounted our horses, accom- 
panied by Mr. jNI'Queen and Dr. Macleod. It rained 
veiy hard. We rode what they call six miles, upon 
Rasay's lands in Sky, to Dr. Macleod's houses -On 
the road Dr. Johnson appeared to be somewhat out of 
spirits. When I talked of our meeting Lord Elibank, , 
he said, " I cannot be with him much. I long to be 
again in civilized life ; but can staj^ but a short while ;" 
(he meant to Edinburgh). He said, " let us go to Dun- 
vegan to-morrow." — "Yes, (said I,) if it is not a,de- 
luge." — "At any rate," he replied. — This shewed a 
kind of fretful impatience ; nor was it to be wondered 
at, considering our disagreeable ride. I feared he would 
give up Mull and Icolmkill, for he said something of 
his apprehensions of being detained by bad weather 
in going to Mull and lona. However I hoped well. 
We had a dish of tea at Dr. Macleod's, who had a pretty 
good house, where was his brother, a half pay officer. 
His lady was a polite, agreeable woman. Dr. Johnson 
said, he w^as glad to see that he was so well married, 
for he had an esteem for physicians. The doctor ac- 
companied us to Kingsburgh, which is called a mile 
farther ; but the computation of Sky has no connection 
v/hatever with the%-eal distance. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 165 

I was highly pleased to see Dr. Johnson safely ar- 
rived at Kingsburgh, and received by the hospitable 
Mr. Macdonald, who, with a most respectful attention, 
supported him into the house. Kingsburgh was com- 
pletely the figure of a gallant Highlander, — exhibiting 
*' the graceful mien and manly looks," which our popu- 
lar Scotch song has justly attributed to that character. 
He had his Tartan plaid thrown about him, a large blue 
bonnet with a knot of black ribband like a cockade, a 
brown short coat of a kind of duffil, a Tartan waistcoat 
with gold buttons and gold button-holes, a bluish phi- 
libeg, and Tartan hose. He had jet black liair tied be- 
hind, and was a large stately man, with a steady sensible 
countenance. 

There was a comfortable parlour with a good fire, 
and a dram went round. By and by supper was served, 
at which there appeared the lady of the house, the cele- 
brated Miss Flora Macdonald. She is a little woman, 
of a genteel appearance, and uncommonly mild and 
well-bred. To see Dr. Samuel Johnson, the great cham- 
pion of the English Tories, salute Miss Flora Mac- 
donald in the isle of Sky, was a striking sight ; for though 
somewhat congenial in their notions, it was very impro- 
bable they should meet here. 

Miss Flora Macdonald (for so I shall call her) told 
me, she heard upon the main land, as she was returning 
home about a fortnight before, that Mr. Boswell was 
coming to Sky, and one Mr. Johnson, a young English 
buck, with him. He was highly entertained with this 
fancy. Giving an account of the afternoon which we 
past at Anock^ he said, *' I, being a huck^ had miss in to 
make tea."— He was rather quiescent to-night, and went 
early to bed. I was in a cordial humour, and promoted 
a cheerful glass. Tl;ie punch was excellent. Hoaest 



166 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

Mr. M'Queen observed that I was in high glee, " mf 
governour being gone to bed." Yet in reahty my heart "^ 
was grieved, when I recollected that Kingsburgh was 
embarrassed in his affairs, and intended to go to Ameri- 
ca. However, nothing but what was good was present, 
and I pleased myself in thinking that so spirited a man 
xvould be well every where. I slept in the same room 
with Dr. Johnson. Each had a neat bed, with Tartan 
curtains, in an upper chamber. 

Monday^ 13M September. 

The room where we lay was a celebrated one. Dr. 
Johnson's bed was the very bed in which the grandson 
of the unfortunate King James the Second* lay, on one 
of the nights after the failure of his rash attempt in 
1745-6, while he was eluding the pursuit of the emis- 
saries of government, which had offered thirty thousand 
pounds as a reward for apprehending him. To see Dr. 
Samuel Johnson lying in that bed, in the isle of Sky, in 
the house of Miss Flora Macdonald, struck me with 
such a group of ideas as it is not easy for words to des- 
cribe, as they passed through the mind. He smiled and 



* I do not call him the Prince of Wales, or the Prince, because I am quite satisfi- 
ed that the right which the House of Stuart had to the throne is extii|guished. I 
do not call him the Pretender, because it appears to me as an insult to one who is 
still alive, and, I suppose, thinks very difierently. It may be a parliamentary ex- 
pression ; but it is not a gentlemanly expression. 1 inau;, and I exult in having it 
in my power to tell, that the only person in the world who is entided to be 
offended at this delicacy, " thinks and feels as I do ;" and has liberality of mind 
and generosity of sentiment enough, to approve of my tenderness for what even 
has been Blood-Royal. That he is a prince by coia-iesy, cannot be denied ; because 
Ills mother was the daughter of Sobiesky, king of Poland. I shall, therefore, on 
that account alcm, distinguish him hv the name of Prince Charles Eckcard. 



n 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 167 

said, " I have had no ambitious thoughts in it.* — The 
room was decorated with a great variety of maps and 
prints. Among others, was Hogarth*s print of Wilkes 
grinning, with the cap of liberty on a pole by him. 
That too was a curious circumstance in the scene this 
morning; such a contrast was Wilkes to the above 
group. It reminded me of Sir William Chambers's 
Account of Oriental Gardening, in which we are told 
all odd, strange, ugly, and even terrible objects, are in- 
troduced, for the sake of variety : a wild extravagance 
of taste which is so well ridiculed in the celebrated 
Epistle to him. The foUowing lines of that poem im- 
mediately occurred to me ; 

" Here too, O king of vengeance ! in thy fane, 
" Tremendous Wilkes shall rattle his gold chain." 

Upon the table in our room I found in the morning 
a slip of paper, on which Dr. Johnson had written witB 
his pencil these words : 

" Quantum cedat virtutibus aurum."t 

What he meant by writing them I could not tell. J He 
had caught cold a day or two ago, and the rain yester- 

* This, perhaps, was said in allusion to some lines ascribed to Pope, on his 
lying, at John Duke of Argyle's, at Adderbury, in the same bed in which Wilmotj 
Earl of Rochester, had slept : 

" With no poetick ardour fir'd, 

" I press the bed where Wilmot lay ; 
" That here he liv'd, or here expir'd, 
" Begets no nunabers^ grave or gay." 

f With virtue weigh'd,,what worthless trash is gold ! 

:j: Since the first edition of this book, an ingenious friend has observed to me, 
that Dr. Johnson had probably been thinking on the reward which was offered by 
gpvernment for the apprehension of the grandson of King James II, and that he 
meant by these words to express his admiration of the Highlanders, whose fidelity 
and attachment h;id resisted the golden temptation that had been held out to them. 



168 JOURNAL OF A TOUR . 

day having made it worse, he was become very deaf. 
At breakfast he said, he would have given a good deal, 
rather than not have lain in that bed. I owned he was 
the lucky man ; and observed, that without doubt it had 
been contrived between Mrs. Macdonald and liim. 
She seemed to acquiesce ; adding, " You know young 
bucks are always favourites of the ladies." He spoke of 
Prince Charles being here, and asked Mrs. Macdonald, 
" Who was with him ? We were told, madam, in Eng- 
land, there was one Miss Flora Macdonald with him." — 
She said, " they were very right ;" and perceiving Dr. 
Johnson's curiosity, though he had delicacy enough not 
to question her, very obligingly entertained him with a 
recital of the particulars which she herself knew of that 
escape, which does so much honour to the humanity, 
fidelity, and generosity, of the Highlanders. Dr. John- 
son listened to her with placid attention, and said, '' All 
this should be written down." 

From what she told us, and from what I was told by 
others personally concerned, and from a paper of infor- 
mation which Rasay was so good as to send me, at my 
desire, I have compiled the following abstract, which, 
as it contains some curious anecdotes, will, I imagine 
not be uninteresting to my readers, and even, perhaps, 
be of some use to future historians. 



Prince Charles Edward, after the battle of Culloden, 
was conveyed to what is called the Lo7ig Island, where 
he lay for some time concealed. But intelligence hav- 
ing been obtained where he was, and a number of troops 
having come in quest of him, it became absolutely 
necessary for him to quit that country without delay. 
Miss Flora Macdonald, then a young lady, animated by 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 169 

what she thought the sacred prmciple of loyalty, offered, 
with the magnanimity of a Heroine, to accompany him 
in an open boat to Sky, though the coast they were to 
quit was guarded by ships. He dressed himself in 
women's clothes, and passed as her supposed maid, by 
the name of Betty Bourke, an Irish girl. They got off 
undiscovered, though several shots were fired to bring 
them to, and landed at Mugstot, the seat of Sir Alexan- 
der Macdonald. Sir Alexander was then at Fort Au- 
gustus, with the Duke of Cumberland ; but his lady 
was at home. Prince Charles took his post upon a hill 
near the house. Flora Macdonald waited on Lady 
Margaret, and acquainted her of the enterprize in which 
she was engaged. Her ladyship, whose active benevo- 
lence was ever seconded by superior talents, shewed a 
perfect presence of mind, and readiness of invention, 
and at once settled that Prince Charles should be con- 
ducted to old Rasay, who was himself concealed with 
some select friends. The plan was instantly communi- 
cated to Kingsburgh, who was dispatched to the hill to 
inform the Wanderer, and carry him refreshments. 
When Kingsburgh approached, he started up, and ad- 
vanced, holding a large knotted stick, and in appearance 
ready to knock him down, till he said, " I am Mac- 
donald of Kingsburgh, come to serve your highness." 
The Wanderer answered, " It is well," and was satisfied 
with the plan. 

Flora Macdonald dined with Lady Margaret, at 
whose table there sat an officer of the army, stationed 
here with a party of soldiei's, to watch for Prince Charles 
in case of his flying to the isle of Sky. She afterwards 
often laughed in good humour with this gentleman, an 
her having so well deceived him.. 



170 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

After dinner, Flora Macdonald on horseback, and 
her supposed maid and Kingsburgh, with a servant car- 
rjdng some linen, all on foot, proceeded towards that 
gentleman's house. Upon the road was a small rivulet 
which they were obhged to cross. The Wanderer, for- 
getting his assumed sex, that his clothes might not be 
wet, held them up a great deal too high. Kingsburgh 
mentioned this to him, observing, it might make a dis- 
covery. He said, he would be more careful for the fu- 
ture. He was as good as his word ; for the next brook 
they crossed, he did not hold up his clothes at all, but 
let them float upon the water. He was very aukward 
in his female dress. His size was so large, and his 
strides so great, that some women whom they met re- 
ported that they had seen a very big woman, who look- 
ed like a man in woman's clothes, and that perhaps it 
was (as they expressed themselves) the Prince, after 
whom so much search was making. 

At Kingsburgh he met with a most cordial recep- 
tion ; seemed gay at supper, and after it indulged him- 
self in a cheerful glass with his worthy host. As he had 
not had his clothes off for a long time, the comfort of a 
good bed was highly relished by him, and he slept sound- 
ly till next day at one o'clock. 

The mistress of Corrichatachin told me, that in the 
forenoon she went into her father's room, who was also 
in bed, and suggested to him her apprehensions that a 
party of the military might come up, and that his guest 
and he had better not remain here too long. Her fa- 
ther said, " Let the poor man repose himself after his 
fatigues ; and as for me, 1 care not, though they take 
oit this old grey head ten or eleven j^ears sooner than I 
should die in the course of nature." He then wrapped 
himself in the bed-clothes, and again fell fast asleep. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 171 

On the afternoon of that day, the Wanderer, still in 
the same dress, set out for Portree, with Flora Mac- 
donald and a man servant. His shoes being very bad, 
Kingsburgh provided him with a new pair, and taking 
up the old ones, said, " I will faithfully keep them till 
you are safely settled at St. James's. I will then intro- 
duce myself, by shaking them at you, to put you in mind 
of your night's entertainment and protection under my 
roof." — He smiled, and said, "Be as good as your 
word !" — Kingsburgh kept the shoes as long as he 
lived. After his death, a zealous Jacobite gentleman 
gave twenty guineas for them. 

Old Mrs. Macdonald, after her guest had left the 
house, took the sheets in which he had lain, folded them 
carefully, and charged her daughter that they should be 
kept unwashed, and that, when she died, her body should 
be wrapped in them as a winding sheet. Her will was 
religiously observed. 

Upon the road to Portree, Prince Charles changed 
his dress, and put dn man's clothes again ; a tartan short 
coat and waistcoat, with philibeg and short hose, a plaid 
and a wig and bonnet. 

Mr. Donald M'Donald, called Donald Roy, had 
been sent express to the present Rasay, then the young 
laird, who was at that time at his sister's house, about 
three miles from Portree, attending his brother. Dr. 
Macleod, who was recovering of a wound he had re- 
ceived at the battle of Culloden. Mr. M'Donald com- 
municated to young Rasay the plan of conveying the 
Wanderer to where old Rasay was ; but was told that 
old Rasay had fied to Knoidart, a part of Glengary's 
estate. There was then a dilemma what should be done. 
Donald Roy proposed that he should conduct the Wan- 
derer to the main land ; but young Rasay thought it too 



17^ 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR 



dangerous at that time, and said it would be better to 
conceal him in the island of Rasay, till old Rasay could 
be informed where he was, and give his advice what was 
best. But the difficulty was, how to get him to Rasay. 
They could not trust a Portree crew, and all the Rasay 
boats had been destroyed, or carried off by the military, 
except two belonging to Malcolm M'Leod, which he 
had concealed somewhere. 

Dr. Macleod being informed of this difficulty, said 
he would risk his life once more for Prince Charles ; 
and it having occurred, that there was a little boat upon 
a fresh-water lake in the neighbourhood, young Rasay 
and Dr. Macleod, with the help of some women, brought 
it to the sea, by extraordinary exertion, across a High- 
land mile of land, one half of which was bog, and the 
other a steep precipice. 

These gallant brothers, with the assistance of one 
little boy, rowed the small boat to Rasay, where they 
were to endeavour to find Captain M'Leod, as Malcolm 
was then called, and get one of his good boats, with 
which they might return to Portree, and receive the 
Wanderer ; or, in case of not finding him, they were 
to make the small boat serve, though the danger was 
considerable. 

Fortunately, on their first landing, they found their 
cousin Malcolm, who, with the utmost alacrity, got 
ready one of his boats, with two strong men, John 
M'Kenzie, and Donald M'Friar. Malcolm, being the 
oldest man, and most cautious, said, that as young Ra- 
say had not hitherto appeared in the unfortunate busi- 
ness, he ought not to run any risk ; but that Dr. Ma- 
cleod and himself, who were already publickly engaged, 
should go on this expedition. Young Rasay answered^, 
with an oath, that he would go, at the risk of his life 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 17S 

and fortune. — "In God's name then (said Malcolm) 
let us proceed." The two boatmen, however, now 
stopped short, till they should be informed of their des- 
tination ; and M'Kenzie declared he would not move 
an oar till he knew where they were going. Upon 
which they were both sworn to secrecy ; and the busi- 
ness being imparted to them, they were eager to put off 
to sea without loss of time. The boat soon landed 
about half a mile from the inn at Portree. 

All this was negociated before the Wanderer got 
forward to Portree. Malcolm M'Leod, and M'Friar, 
were dispatched to look for him. In a short time he 
appeared, and went into the public house. Here Donald 
Roy, whom he had seen at Mugstot, received him, and 
informed him of what hrd been concerted. He wanted 
silver for a guinea, but the landlord had only thirteen 
shillings. He was going to accept of this for his guinea; 
but Donald Roy very judiciously observed, that it would 
discover him to be some great man ; so he desisted. He 
slipped out of the house, leaving his fair protectress, 
whom he never again saw ; and Malcolm Macleod was 
presented to him by Donald Roy, as a captain in his ar- 
my. Young Rasay and Dr. Macleod had waited, in 
impatient anxiety, in the boat. When he came, their 
names were announced to him. He would not permit 
the usual ceremonies of respect, but saluted them as his 
equals. 

Donald Roy staid in Sky, to be in readiness to get 
intelligence, and give an alarm in case the troops should 
discover the retreat to Rasay ; and Prince Charles was 
then conveyed in a boat to that island in the night. He 
slept a little upon the passage, and they landed about 
day-break. There was some difficulty in accommo- 
dating him with a lodging, as almost all the houses in. 



174 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

the island had been burnt by the soldiery. They repair- 
ed to a little hut, which some shepherds had lately built, 
and having prepared it as well as they could, and made 
a bed of heath for the stranger, they kindled a fire, and 
partook of some provisions which had been sent with 
him from Kingsburgh. It was observed that he would 
not taste wheat-bread, or brandy, while oat-bread and 
whisky lasted ; "for these, said he, are my own coun- 
try bread and drink."— -This was very engaging to the 
Highlanders. 

Young Rasay being the only person of the com- 
pany that durst appear with safety, he went in quest of 
something fresh for them to eat ; but though he was 
amidst his own cows, sheep, and goats, he could not 
venture to take any of them for fear of a discovery, but 
was obliged to supply himself by stealth. He therefore 
caught a kid, and brought it to the hut in his plaid, and 
it was killed and drest, and furnished them a meal which 
they relished much. The distressed Wanderer, whose 
health was now a good deal impaired by hunger, fatigue, 
and watching, slept a long time, but seemed to be fre- 
quently disturbed. Malcolm told me he would start from 
broken slumbers, and speak to himself in different lan- 
guages, French, Italian, and English. I must however 
acknowledge, that it is highly probable that my worthy 
friend Malcolm did not know precisely the difference 
between French and Italian. One of his expressions 
in English was, " O God ! poor Scotland !" 

While they were in the hut, M'Kenzie and M'Friar, 
the two boatmen, were placed as sentinels upon different 
eminences ; and one day an incident happened, which 
must not be omitted. There was a man wandering 
about the island, selling tobacco. Nobody knew him, 
and he was suspected to be a spy. M'Kenzie came 



fb THE HEBRIDES. 175 

running to the hut, and told that this suspected person 
was approaching. Upon which the three gentlemen, 
young Rasay, Dr. Macleod, and Malcolm, held a coun- 
cil of war upon him, and were unanimously of opinion 
that he should instantly be put to death. Prince Charles, 
at once assuming a grave and even severe countenance, 
said, ** God forbid that we should take away a man's 
life, who may be innocent, while we can preserve our 
own." The gentlemen however persisted in their reso- 
lution, while he as strenuously continued to take the 
merciful side. John M'Kenzie, who sat watching at 
the door of the hut, and overheard the debate, said in 
Erse, " Well, well ; he must be shot. You are the 
l^ing, but we are the parliament, and will do what we 

choose." Prince Charles, seeing the gentlemen 

smile, asked what the man had said, and being told it 
in English, he observed that he was a clever fellow, 
and, notwithstanding the perilous situation in which he 
was, laughed loud and heartily. Luckily the unknown 
person did not perceive that there were people in the 
hut, at least did not come to it, but walked on past it, 
unknowing of his risk. It was afterwards found out 
that he was one of the Highland army, who was him- 
self in danger. Had he come to them, they were re- 
solved to dispatch him ; for, as Malcolm said, to me, 
*' We could not keep him with us, and we durst not let 
him go. In such a situation, I would have shot my 
brother, if I had not been sure of him," — John M'Ken- 
zie was. at Rasay 's house, when we were there.* About 
eighteen years before, he hurt one of his legs when 
dancing, and being obliged to have it cut off, he now 

• This old Scottish onem.bcr of parliament, I am informed, is still living '4^1^ 

(1785). 



176 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

was going about with a wooden leg. The story of his 
being a member of parliament is not yet forgotten. I 
took him out a little way from the house, gave him a 
shilling to drink Rasay's health, and led him into a de- 
tail of the particulars which I have just related. — With 
less foundation, some writers have traced the idea of a 
parliament, and of the British constitution, in rude and 
early times. I was curious to know if he had really heard, 
or understood, any thing of that subject, which, had he 
been a greater man, would probably have been eagerly 
maintained. " Why, John, (said I,) did you think 
the king should be controuled by a parliament?" — He 
answered, " I thought, sir, there were many voices 
against one." 

The conversation then turning on the times, the 
Wanderer said, that, to be sure, the life he had led of 
late was a very hard one ; but he would rather live in 
the way he now did, for ten years, than fail into the 
hands of his enemies. The gentlemen asked him, 
what he thought his enemies would do with him, should 
he have the misfortune to fall into their hands. He said, 
he did not believe they would dare to take his life pub- 
lickly, but dreaded being privately destroyed by poison 
or assassination. — He was very particular in his inquiries 
about the wound which Dr. Macleod had received at 
the battle of Culloden, from a ball, which entered at one 
shoulder, and went cross to the other. The doctor hap- 
pened still to have on the coat which he wore on that oc- 
casion. He mentioned, that he himself had his horse 
shot under him at Culloden ; that the ball hit the horse 
about two inches from his knee, and made him 
so unruly that he was obliged to change him for ano- 
ther. He threw out some reflections on the con- 
duct of the disastrous affair at Culloden, saying how- 



TO THE HEBRIDES. ^ 177 

ever, that perhaps it was rash in him to do so. — I am now 
convinced that his suspicions were groundless ; for I 
have had a good deal of conversation upon the subject 
with my very worthy and ingenious friend, Mr. Andrew 
Lumisden, who was under secretary to Prince Charles, 
and afterwards principal secretary to his father at Rome, 
who he assured me, was perfectly satisfied both of the abi- 
lities and honorbf the generals who commanded the High- 
land army on that occasion. Mr. Lumisden has written 
an account of the three battles in 1745-6, at once accu- 
rate and classical. — Talking of the different Highland 
corps, the gentlemen who were present wished to have 
his opinion which were the best soldiers. He said, he 
did not like comparisons among those corps : they were 
all best. 

He told his conductors, he did not think it advisable 
to remain long in any one place ; and that he expected 
a French ship to come for him to Lochbroom, among 
the Mackenzies. It then was proposed to carry him in 
one of Malcolm's boats to Lochbroom, though the dis- 
tance was fifteen leagues coastwise. But he thought 
this would be too dangerous, and desired that at any 
rate they might first endeavour to obtain intelligence. 
Upon which young Rasay wrote to his friend, Mr. 
M'Kenzie of Applecross, but received an answer, that 
there was no appearance of any French ship. 

It was therefore resolved that they should return to 
Sky, which they did, and landed in Strath, where they 
reposed in a cow-house belonging to Mr. Nicholson of 
Scorbreck. The sea was very rough, and the boat took 
in a good deal of water.' The Wanderer asked if there 
was danger, as he was not used to such a vessel. Upon 
being told there was not, he sung an Erse song with 

A a 



178 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

much vivacity. He had by this time acquired a good 
deal of the Erse language. 

Young Rasay was now dispatched to where Donald 
Roy was, that they might get all the intelligence they 
could; and the Wanderer, with much earnestness, 
charged Dr. Macleod to have a boat ready, at a certain 
place about seven miles off, as he said he intended it 
should carry him upon a matter of great consequence ; 
and gave the doctor a case, containing a silver spoon, 
knife, and fork, saying, " keep you that till I see you," 
which the doctor understood to be two days from that 
time. But all these orders were only blinds ; for he 
had another plan in his head, but wisely thought it safest 
to trust his secrets to no more persons than was abso- 
lutely necessary. Having then desired Malcolm to walk 
with him a little way from the house, he soon opened 
his mind, saying, "I deliver myself to you. Conduct 

me to the Laird of M'Kinnon's country." Malcolm 

objected that it was very dangerous, as so many parties 
of soldiers were in motion. He answered, " There is 
nothing now to be done without danger." — He then said, 
that Malcolm must be the master, and he the servant; so 
he took the bag, in which his linen was put up, and car- 
ried it on his shoulder ; and observing that his waist- 
coat, which was of scarlet tartan, with a gold twist but- 
ton, was finer tliat Malcolm's, which was of a plain or- 
dinary tartan, he put on Malcolm's waistcoat, and gave 
him his ; remarking at the same time, that it did not look 
well that the servant should be better dressed than the 
master. 

Malcolm, though an excellent walker, found himself 
excelled by Prince Charles, who told him, he should 
not much mind die parties that were looking for him, 
were he once but a musket- shot from them ; but that he 



TO THE HEBRIDES. ITS 

was somewhat afraid of- the Highlanders who were 
against him. He was well used to walking in Italy in 
pursuit of game ; and he was even now so keen a sports- 
man, that, having observed some partridges, he was 
going to take a shot ; but Malcolm cautioned him 
against it, observing that the firing might be heard by 
the tenders who were hovering upon the coast. 

As they proceeded through the mountains, taking 
many a circuit to avoid any houses, Malcolm to try his 
resolution, asked him what they should do, should they 
fall in with a party of soldiers : he answered, " Fight to 
be sure !" — Having asked Malcolm if he should be 
known in his present dress, and Malcolm having replied 
he would, he said, " Then I'll blacken my face with 
powder." — " That, said Malcolm, would discover you 
at once." — " Then, said he, I must be put in the greatest 
deshabille possible." So he pulled off lis wig, tied a 
handkerchief round his head, and put his night-cap 
over ity tore the ruffles from his shirt, took the buckles 
out of his shoes, and made Malcolm fasten them with 
strings ; but still Malcolm thought he would be known. 
" I have so odd a face, (said he,) that no man ever saw 
me but he would know me again." v*«,k 

He seemed unwilling to give credit to the horrid 
narrative of men being massacred in cold blood, after 
victory had declared for the army commanded by the 
Duke of Cumberland. He could not allow himself to 
think that a general could be so barbarous. 

When they came within two miles of M'Kinnon's 
house, Malcolm asked if he chose to see the laird. "No, 
(said he,) by no means. I know M'Kinnon to be as 
good and as honest a man as any in the world, but he is 
not fit for my purpose at present. You must conduct 
me to some other house ; but let it be a gentleman's 



180 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

house." — —Malcolm then determined that they should 
go to the house of his brother-in-law, Mr. John M'Kin- 
non, and from thence be conveyed to the main land of 
Scotland, and claim the assistance of Macdonald of 
Scothouse. The Wanderer at first objected to this, be- 
cause Scothouse was cousin to a person of whom he 
had suspicions. But he acquiesced in Malcolm's 
opinion. 

When they were near Mr. John M'Kinnon's house, 
they met a man of the name of Ross, who had -been a 
private soldier in the Highland army. He fixed his 
eyes steadily on the Wanderer in his disguise, and hav- 
ing at once recognized him, he clapped his hands, and 
exclaimed, " Alas ! is this the case ?" Finding that 
there was now a discovery, Malcolm asked, " What's 
to be done ?" " Swear him to secrecy," answered 
Prince Charles. Upon which Malcolm drew his dirk, 
and on the naked blade made him take a solemn oath, 
that he would say nothing of his having seen the Wan- 
derer, till his escape should be made publick. 

Malcolm's sister, whose house they reached pretty 
early in the morning, asked him who the person was 
that was along with him. He said, it was one Lewis 
Caw, from Crieff, who being a fugitive like himself for 
the same reason, he had engaged him as his servant, but 
that he had fallen sick. " Poor man ! (said she,) I pity 
him. At the same time my heart warms to a man of 
his appearance." — Her husband was gone a little way 
from home ; but was expected every minute to return. 
She set down to her brother a plentiful Highland break- 
fast. Prince Charles acted the servant very well, sit- 
ting at a respectful distance, with his bonnet off. Mal- 
colm then said to him, " Mr. Caw, you have as much 
need of this as I have ; there is enough for us both ; 



'ftJ THE HEBRIDES. ^ 18t 

you had better draw nearer and share with me." — Upon 
which he rose, made a profound bow, sat down at table 
with his supposed master, and eat very heartily. After 
this there came in an old woman, who, after the mode 
of ancient hospitality, brought warm water, and washed 
Malcolm's feet. He desired her to wash the feet of the 
poor man who attended him. She at first seemed averse 
to this, from pride, as thinking him beneath her, and in 
the periphrastick language of the Highlanders and the 
Irish, said warmly, " Though I wash your father's son's 
feet, why should I wash his father's son's feet ?" — She 
was however persuaded to do it. 

They then went to bed, and slept for some time ; 
and when Malcolm awaked, he was told that Mr. John 
M'Kinnon, his brother-in-law, was in sight. He sprang 
out to talk to him before he should see Prince Charles. 
After saluting- him, Malcolm, pointing to the sea, said, 
" What, John, if the prince should be prisoner on board 
one of those tenders ?" " God forbid !" replied John. 
— " What if we had him here ?" said Malcolm. — " I 
wish we had, answered John ; we should take care of 
him." — " Well, John, said Malcolm, he is in your 
houses" — John, in a transport of joy, wanted to run di- 
rectly in, and pay his obeisance ; butMaicolm stopped 
him, saying, "Now is your time to behave well, and 
do nothing that can discover him". — John composed 
himself, and having sent away all his servants upon dif- 
ferent errands, he was introduced into the presence of 
his guest, and was then desired to go and get ready a 
boat lying near his house, which, though but a small 
leaky one, they resolved to take, rather than go to the 
Laird of M'Kinnon. John M'Kinnon however thought 
otherwise ; and upon his return told them, that his 
Chief and Lady M'Kinnon were coming in the laird's 



^ 



182 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

boat. Prince Charles said to his trusty Malcolm, " I 
am sorry for this, but must make the best of it." — 
M'Kinnon then walked up from the shore, and did ho- 
mage to the Wanderer. His lady waited in a cave, to 
which they all repaired, and were entertained with cold 
meat and wine. — Mr. Malcolm M'Leod being now su- 
perseded by the Laird of M'Kinnon, desired leave to 
return, which was granted him, and Prince Charles 
wrote a short note, which he subscribed James Thomp- 
son^ informing his friends that he had got away from 
Sky, and thanking them for their kindness ; and he de- 
sired this might be speedily conveyed to young Rasay 
and Dr. Macleod, that they might not wait longer in ex- 
pectation of seeing him again. He bade a cordial adieu 
to Malcolm, and insisted on his accepting of a silver 
stock-buckle, and ten guineas from his purse, though, 
as Malcolm told me, it did not appear tocontain above 
forty. Malcolm at first begged to be excused, saying, 
that he had a few guineas at his service ; but Prince 
Charles answered, "You will have need of money. I 
shall get enough when I come upon the main land." 

The Laird of M'Kinnon then conveyed him to the 
opposite coast of Knoidart. Old Rasay, to whom in- 
telligence had been sent, was crossing at the same time 
to Sky ; but as they did not know of each other, and 
each had apprehensions, the two boats kept aloof. 

These are the particulars which I have collected 
concerning the extraordinary concealment and escapes 
of Prince Charles, in the Hebrides. He was often in 
imminent danger. The troops traced him from the 
Long Island, across Sky, to Portree, but there lost 
him. 

Here I stop, — having received no farther aiithentick 
information of his fatigues and perils before he escaped 



* . ¥ 



TO THE HEBRIDES. ^j., 183 

to France. — Kings and subjects may both take a lesson 
of moderation from the melancholy fate of the House of 
Stuart ; that Kings may not suffer degradation and exile, 
and subjects may not be harfassed by the evils of a dis- 
puted succession. 

V Let me close the scene on that unfortunate House 
with the elegant and pathetick reflections Qi Voltaire^ m 
his Histoire Generale. — " Que leshommes prives (says 
"that brilliant writer, speaking of Prince Charles) qui 
" se croyent malheureux jettent les yeux sur ce prince et 
" ses ancetres." 

In another place he thus sums up the sad story of the 
family in general : — " II n'y a aucun exemple dans I'his- 
" toire d'une maison si longtems infortunee. Le pre- 
" mier des Rois d'Ecosse, qui eut le nom de Jacques^ 
" apres avoir ete dix-huit ans prisonnier en Angleterre, 
" mourut assassin6, avec sa femme, par la main de ses 
" sujets. Jacques II. son fils, fut tue a vingt-neuf an$ 
" en combattant contre les Anglois. Jacques III. mis 
" un prison par son peuple, fut tue ensuite par les re- 
" voltes, danc une battaille. Jacques IV. perit dans un 
"combat qui'l perdit. Marie Stuart^ sa petite fille, 
" chassee, de son trone, fugitive en Angleterre, ayant 
'* langui dix-huit ans en prison, se vit condamnee a 
"mort par des juges Anglais, et eut la tete tranchee. 
" Charles I. petit fils de Marie, Roi d'Ecosse et d'An- 
" gleterre, vendu par les Ecossois, et juge a mort par 
" les Anglais, mourut sur un echaffaut dans la place 
" publique. Jacques, son fils, septieme du nom, et 
" deuxieme en Angleterre, fut chass6 de ses trois roy- 
" aumes ; et pour comble de malheur on contesta a son 
" fils sa naissance : le fils ne tenta de remonter sur le 
" trone de ces peres, que pour faire perir ses amis par 
^* des bourreaux ; et nous avons vu le Prince Charles 



184 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

" Edouard, reunuissant en vain les vertus de ses peres, et 
"le courage du Roi Jean Sobieski, son ayeul maternel, 
" executer les exploits et essuyer les malheurs les plus 
" incroyables. Si quelque' chose justifie ceux qui croy- 
" ent une fatalit6 a laquelle rien ne peut se sousiraire, 
" c'est cette suite continuelle de malheurs qui a perse- 
" cut6 la maison de Stuart, pendant plus de trois-cent 
*' annees." 

The gallant Malcolm was apprehended in about ten 
days after they separated put aboard a ship, and carried 
prisoner to London. He said, the prisoners in general 
were very ill treated in their passage ; but there were 
soldiers on board who lived well, and sometimes invited 
him to share with them : that he had the good fortune 
not to be thrown into jail, but was confined in the house 
of a messenger, of the name of Dick. To his aston- 
ishment, only one witness could be found against him, 
though he had been so openly engaged ; and therefore, 
for want of sufficient evidence, he was set at liberty. 
He added, that he thought himself in such danger, that 
he would gladly have compounded for banishment. Yet, 
he said, " he should never be so ready for death as he 
then was." — There is philosophical truth in this. A 
man will meet death much more firmly at one time than 
another. The enthusiasm even of a mistaken principle 
warms the mind, and sets it above the fear of death ; 
which in our cooler moments, if we really think of it, 
cannot but be terrible, or at least very awful. 

Miss Flora Macdonald being then also in London, 
under the protection of Lady Primrose, that lady provi- 
ded a post-chaise to convey her to Scotland, and desired 
she might choose any ftiend she pleased to accompany 
her. She chose Malcolm. " So (said he, with a tri- 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 1^5 

iimphant air) I went to London to be hanged, and re- 
turned in a post-chaise with Miss Flora Macdonald." 

Mr. Macleod of Muiravenside, whom we saw at Ra- 
say assured us that Prince Charles was in London in 
1759, and that there was then a plan in agitation for res- 
toring his family. Dr. Johnson could scarcely credit 
this story, and said, " There could be no probable plan 
at that time. Such an attempt could not have succeed- 
ed, unless the King of Prussia had stopped the army in 
Germany ; for both the army and the fleet would, even 
without orders, have fought for the King, to whom they 
had engaged themselves." 

Having related so many particulars concerning the 
grandson of the unfortunate King James the Second ; 
having given due praise to fidelity and generous attach- 
ment, which, however erroneous the judgment may be, 
are honourable for the heart ; I must do the Highland- 
ers the justice to attest, that I found every where 
amongst them a high opinion of the virtues of the King 
now upon the throne, and an honest disposition to be 
faithful subjects to his majesty, whose family has pos- 
sessed the sovereignty of this country so long, that a 
change, even for the abdicated family, would now hurt 
the best feelings of all his subjects. 

The abstract point of right would involve us in a 
discussion of remote and perplexed questions ; and after 
all, we should have no clear principle of decision. That 
establishment, which, from political necessity, took place 
in 1688, by a breach in the succession of our kings, 
and which, whatever benefits may have accrued from it, 
certainly gave a shock to our monarchy,— the able and 
constitutional Blackstone, wisely rests on the solid foot-, 
ing of authority. — " Our ancestors having most indis- 
putably a competent jurisdiction to decide this great 

B b 



186 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

and important question, and having, in fact, decided it, 
it is now become our duty, at this distance of time, to 
acquiesce in their determination."* 

Mr. Paley, the present Archdeacon of Carlisle, in 
his Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy ^ having 
with much clearness of argument, shewn the duty of 
submission to civil government to be founded neither 
on an indefeasible jus divinum^ nor on compact, but on 
expediency, lays down this rational position : — " Irregu- 
larity in the first foundation of a state, or subsequent 
violence, fraud, or injustice, in getting possession of the 
supreme power, are not sufficient reasons for resistance, 
after the government is once peaceably settled. No 
subject of the British empire conceives himself engaged 
to vindicate the justice of the Norman claim or con- 
quest, or apprehends that his duty in any manner de- 
pends upon that controversy. So likewise, if the house 
of Lancaster, or even the posterity of Cromwell, had 
been at this day seated upon the throne of England, we 
should have been as little concerned to inquire how the 
founder of the family came there."! 

* Commentaries on the Laws of Engl9.nd, Book I. chap. 3. 

•j- B. VI. chap. 3. Since I have quoted Mr. Archdeacon Paley upon one sub- 
ject, I cannot but transcribe, from his excellent work, a distinguished passage in 
support of the Christian Revelation — After shewing, in decent but strong terms, 
the unfairness of the indirect attempts of modern infidels to unsettle and peqilex 
religious principles, and particularly the irony, banter, and sneer, of one whom 
he politely calls " an eloquent historian," the archdeacon thus expresses himself : 

" Sei-iousness is not constraint of thought ; nor levity, freedoin. Every mind 
Vvhich wishes the advancement of truth and knowledge, in the most important 
of all human researches, must abhor this licentiousness, as violating no less the 
laws of reasoning than the rights of decency. There is but one description of 
men to whose principles it ought to be tolerable. I mean that class of reasoners 
who can see little in Christianity, even supposing it to be true. To such adver- 
saries we address this reflection. — Had Jesus Christ delivered no other declara- 
tion than the following, « The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the 
graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth, — they that have done well untO' 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 187 

In conformity with this doctrine, I myself, though 
fully persuaded that the House of Stuart had originally 
no right to the crown of Scotland; for that BalioU and 
not Bruce, was the lawful heir ; should yet have thought 
it very culpable to have rebelled, on that account, 
against Charles the First, or even a prince of that house 
much nearer the time, in order to assert the claim of the 
posterity of Baliol. 

However convinced I am of the justice of that prin- 
ciple, which holds allegiance and protection to be reci- 
procal, I do however acknowledge, that I am not satis- 
fied with the cold sentiment which would confine the 
exertions of the subject within the strict line of duty. I 
would have every breast animated with the fervour of 
loyalty ; with that generous attachment which delights 
in doing somewhat more than is required, and makes 
" service perfect freedom." And, therefore, as our 
most gracious Sovereign, on his accession to the throne, 
gloried in being bar?! a Briton ; so, in my more private 
sphere. Ego me nunc denique natum, gratulor. I am 
happy that a disputed succession no longer distracts our 
minds ; and that a monarchy, established by law, is now 
so sanctioned by time, that we can fully indulge those 

the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of dam* 
nation,' he had pronounced a message of inestimable importance, and well wor- 
thy of that splendid apparatus of prophecy and miracles with which his mission 
was introduced and attested : — a message in which the wisest of mankind would 
rejoice to find an answer to their doubts, and rest to their inquiries. It is idle to 
say that a future state had been discovered already. — It had been discovered as 
the Copernican System was; — it was one guess amongst many. He alone dis- 
covers who pro'ces ; and no man can prove this point but the teacher who testifies 
by miracles that his doctrine comes from God." — Book V. chap. 9 

If infidelity be disengenuously dispersed in every shape that is likely to allure, 
surprise, or beguile the imagination, — in a fable, a tale, a novel, a poem, — in books 
of travels, of philosophy, of natural history, — as Mr. Paley has well observed, — 
I hope it is fair in me thus to iTieet such poison with an unexpected antidotCv 
which I cannot doubt will be found powerful. 



188 JOURNAL OF A TOUtl 

feelings of loyalty which I am ambitious to excite. They 
are feelings which have ever actuated the inhabitants of 
the Highlands and the Hebrides. The plant of loyalty 
is there in full vigour, and the Brunswick graft now 
flourishes like a native shoot. To that spirited race of 
people I may with propriety apply the elegant lines of a 
modern poet, on the " facile temper of the beauteous 
sex :" 



" Like birds new-caught, who flutter for a time, 
" And struggle wiili captivity in vain ; 
^' But by-and-by they rest, they smooth their plumes, 
"And to neiv rnastcra sing their former notes."* 

Surely such notes are much better than the queru- 
lous growlings of suspicious Whigs and discontented 
Republicans. 



Kingsburgh conducted us in his boat, across one of 
the lochs, as they call them, or arms of the sea, which 
flow in upon all the coasts of Sky, — to a mile beyond a 
place called Grishmish. Our horses had been sent 
round by land to meet us. By this sail we saved eight 
miles of bad riding. Dr. Johnson said, " When we 
take into the computation what we have saved, and what 
we have gained, by this agreeable sail, it is a great 
deal." He observed, "it is very disagreeable riding in 
Sk}'-. The way is so narrow, one only at a time can 
travel, so it is quite unsocial ; and you cannot indulge 
in meditation by yourself, because you must be always 
attending to the steps which your horse takes." — This 
w^as a just and clear description of its inconveniences. 

* Agis, a tragedy, by John Home. 



TO THE HEBRIDES- 189 

The topick of emigration being again introduced, 
Dr. Johnson said, that " a rapacious Chief would make 
a wilderness of his estate." Mr. Donald M'Queen 
told us, that the oppression, which then made so much 
noise, was owing to landlords listening to bad advice in 
the letting of their lands ; that interested and design- 
ing people flattered them with golden dreams of much 
higher rents than could reasonably be paid ; and that 
some of the gentlemen tacksmen, or upper tenants, were 
themselves in part the occasion of the mischief, by over- 
rating the farms of others. That many of the tacksmen, 
rather than comply with exorbitant demands, had gone 
off to America, and impoverished the country, by 
draining it of its wealth ; and that their places were 
filled by a number of poor people, who had lived under 
them, properly speaking as servants, paid by a certain 
proportion of the produce of the lands, though called 
sub-tenants. I observed, that if the men of substance 
were once banished from a Highland estate, it might 
probably be greatly reduced in its value ; for one bad 
year might ruin a set of poor tenants, and men of any 
property would not settle in such a country, unless from 
the temptation of getting land extremely cheap ; for an 
inhabitant of any good county in Britain had better go 
to America than to the Highlands or the Hebrides. Here 
therefore was a consideration that ought to induce a 
Chief to act a more liberal part, from a mere motive 
of interest, independent of the lofty and honourable 
principle of keeping a clan together, to be in readiness 
to serve his king. I added, that I could not help think- 
ing a little arbitrary power in the sovereign to control 
the bad policy and greediness of the Chiefs, might 
sometimes be of service. In France a chief would not 
be permitted to force a number of the king's subjects 



190 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

out of the country. — Dr. Johnson concurred with me, 
observing, that *' were an oppressive chieftain a subject 
of the French King, he would probably be admonished 
by a letter,^'' 

During our sail, Dr. Johnson asked about the use of 
the dirk, with which he imagined the Highlanders cut 
their meat. He was told they had a knife and fork be- 
sides, to eat with. He asked, how did the women do? 
and was answered, some of them had a knife and fork 
too: but in general the men, when they had cut their 
meat, handed their knives and forks to the women, and 
they themselves eat with their fingers. The old tutor 
of Macdonald always eat fish with his fingers, alledging 
that a knife and fork gave it a bad taste. I took the 
liberty to observe to Dr. Johnson, that he did so. " Yes, 
said he ; but it is, because I am short-sighted, and 
afraid of bones, for which reason I am not fond of eat- 
ing many kinds of fish, because I must use my fingers." 

Dr. M'Pherson's Dissertations on Scottish Antiqui- 
ties, which we had looked at when at Corrichatachin, 
being mentioned, he remarked, that " you might read 
half an hour,- and ask yourself what 3^ou had been read- 
ing : there were so many words to so little matter, that 
there was no getting through the book." 

As soon as we reached the shore, we took leave of 
Kingsburgh, and mounted our horses. We passed 
through a wild moor, in many places so soft that we 
were obliged to walk, which was very fatiguing to Dr. 
Johnson. Once he had advanced on horseback to a 
very bad step. There was a steep declivity on his left, 
to which he was so near, that there was not room for 
him to dismount in the usual way. He tried to alight 
on the other side, as if he had been a young buck indeed, 
but in the attempt he fell at his length upon the ground ; 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 191 

from which, however, he got up immediately without 
being hurt. During this dreary ride, we were some- 
times relieved by a view of branches of the sea, that 
universal medium of connection amongst mankind. A 
guide, who had been sent with us, from Kingsburgh, 
explored the way (much in the same manner as, I sup- 
pose, is pursued in the wilds of America,) by observ- 
ing certain marks known only to the inhabitants. We 
arrived at Dunvegan late in the afternoon. The great 
size of the castle, which is partly old and partly new, and 
is built upon a rock close to the sea, while the land 
around it presents notliing but wild, moorish, hilly and 
craggy appearances, gave a rude magnificence to the 
scene. . Having dismounted, we ascended a flight of 
steps which was made by the late Macleod, for the 
accommodation of persons coming to him by land, 
there formerly being, for security, no other access to 
the castle but from the sea : so that visitors who came 
by the land were under the necessity of getting into a 
boat, and sailed round to the only place where it could 
be approached. We were introduced into a stately 
dining-room, and received by Lady Macleod, mother 
of the laird, who, with his friend Talisker, having 
been detained on the road, did not arrive till some time 
after us. 

We found the lady of the house a very polite and 
sensible woman, who had lived for some time in Lon- 
don, and had there been in Dr. Johnson's company. 
After we had dined, we repaired to the drawing-room, 
where some of the young ladies of the family, with 
their mother, were at tea. This room had formerly 
been the bed-chamber of Sir Roderick Macleod, one of 
the old Lairds ; and he chose it, because, behind it, 
there was a considerable cascade, the sound of which 



192 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

disposed him to sleep. Above his bed was this inscrip- 
tion: " Sir Rorie M'Leod of Dunvegan, Knight. God 
send good rest !" — Rorie is the contraction of Roderick. 
He was called Rorie More, that is, great Rorie, not from 
his size, but from his spirit. — Our entertainment here 
was in so elegant a style, and reminded my fellow-tra- 
veller so much of England, that he became quite 
joyous. He laughed, and said, " Boswell, we caijie in 
at the wrong end of this island." — " Sir, (said I,) it was 
best to keep this for the last." — He answered, " I would 
have it both first and last." 

Tuesday, I4th September. 

Dr. Johnson said in the morning, " Is not this a fine 
lady ?" — There was not a word now of his "impatience 
to be in civilized life;" — though indeed I should beg 
pardon, — he found it here. We had slept well, and 
lain long. After breakfast we surveyed the castle, and 
the garden. — Mr. Bethune, the parish minister, — 
Magnus M'Leod, of Claggan, brother to Talisker, 
and M'Leod of Bay, two substantial gentlemen of the 
clan, dined with us. We had admirable venison, gene- 
rous wine ; in a word, all that a good table has. This 
was really the hall of a chief. Lady M'Leod had been 
much obliged to my father, who had settled by arbitra- 
tion a variety of perplexed claims between her and her 
relation, the Laird of Brodie, which she now repaid by 
particular attention to me. — M'Leod started the sub- 
ject of making women do penance in the church for for- 
nication.- — Johnson. "It is right, sir. Infamy is attached 
to the crime, by universal opinion, as soon as it is known. 
I would not be the man who would discover it, if I alone 
knew it, for a woman may reform , nor would I com- 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 193 

mend a parson who divulges a woman's first oiFence; 
but being once divulged, it ought to be infamous. 
Consider, of what importance to society the chastity of 
women is. Upon that all the property in the world de- 
pends. We hang a thief for stealing a sheep ; but the 
unchastity of a woman transfers sheep, and farm and all, 
from the right owner. I have much more reverence 
for a common prostitute than for a woman who conceals 
her guilt. The prostitute is known. She cannot 
deceive : she cannot bring a strumpet into the arms 
of an honest man, without his knowledge." — Boswell. 
" There is, however, a great difference between the li- 
centiousness of a single woman, and that of a married 
woman." — Johnson. " Yes, sir ; there is great differ- 
ence between stealing a shilling, and stealing a thou- 
sand pounds ; between simply taking a man's purse, 
and murdering him first, and then taking it. But when 
one begins to be vicious, it is easy to go on. Where 
single women are licentious, you rarely find faithful 
married women." — BoswelL " And yet we are told 
that in some nations in India, the distinction is strictly 
observed." — Johnson, " Nay, don't give us India, v / 
That puts me in mind of Montesquieu, who is really a- 
fellow of genius too in many respects ; whenever he 
wants to support a strange opinion, he quotes you the 
practice of Japan or of some other distant country, of 
which he knows nothing. To support polygamy, he 
tells you of the island of Formosa, where there are ten 
women born for one man. He had but to suppose ano- 
ther island, where there are ten men born for one wo- 
oman, and so make a marriage between therri."* 

* What my friend treated as so wild a suppositon, has actually happened in 
the Western islands of Scotland, if we may believe Martin, who tells it of the 
islands of Col and Tyr-yi, and says that it is proved by the parish registers. 

C C 



194 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

At supper, Lady Macleod mentioned Dr. Cadogah^s 
book on the gout. — Johnson. "It is a good book m 
general, but a foolish one in particulars. It is good in 
general, as recommending temperance and exercise, 
and cheerfulness. In that respect it is only Dr. 
Cheyne's book told in a new way ; and there should 
come out such a book every thirty years, dressed in 
the mode of the times. It is foolish, in maintaining 
that the gout is not hereditary, and that one fit of it, 
when gone, is like a fever when gone." — Lady Mac- 
leod objected that the authour does not practice what 
he teaches. *^ — Johnson. " I cannot help that, madam. 
That does not make his book the worse. People are 
influenced more by what a man says, if his practice is 
suitable to it, — because they are blockheads. The 
more intellectual people are, the readier will they at- 
tend to what a man tells them. If it is just, they will 
follow it, be his practice what it will. No man prac- 
tices so well as he writes. I have, all my life long, 
being lying till noon ; yet I tell all young men, and tell 
them with great sincerity, that nobody who does not 
rise early will ever do any good. Only consider ! you 
read a book ; you are convinced by it ; you do not 
know the authour. Suppose you afterwards know him, 
and find that he does not practise what he teaches ; 
are 5'^ou to give up your former conviction ? At this 
rate you would be kept in a state of equilibrium, when 
reading every book till you knew how the authour 
practised." — "But, said Lady M'Leod, you would think 

* This was a general reflection against Dr. Cadogan, when his very popular 
book was first published. It was said, that whatever precepts he might give to 
others, he himself indulged freely in the bottle. But I have since had the plea- 
sure of becoming acquainted with him, and, if his own testimony may be believed 
(ind I have never heard it iiTipeached,) his course of life has been conformable 
to his doctrine. 



* TO THE HEBRIDES, 195 

better of Dr. Cadogan, if he acted according to his 
principles." — Johnson. " Why, madam, to be sure, |. 
man who acts in the face of Ught, is worse than a man 
who does not know so much ; yet I think no man should 
be the worse thought of for publishing good principles. 
There is something noble in publishing truth, though it 
condemns one's self." — I expressed some surprize at 
Cadogan's recommending good humour, as if it were 
quite in our own power to attain it. — Johnson. " Why 
sir, a man grows better humoured as he grows older. He 
improves by experience. When young, he thinks him- 
self of great consequence, and every thing of importance. 
As he advances in life, he learns to think himself of no 
consequence, and little things of little importance ; and 
so he becomes more patient, and better pleased. All 
good-humour and complaisance are acquired. Natu- 
rally a child seizes directly what it sees, and thinks of 
pleasing itself only. By degrees, it is taught to please 
others, and to prefer others ; and that this will ultimate- 
ly produce the greatest happiness. If a man is not con- 
vinced of that, he never will practise it. Common lan- 
guage speaks the truth as to this : we say, a person is 
well bred. As it is said, that all material motion is pri- 
marily in a right line, and is never per circutum, never 
in another form, unless by some particular cause ; so 
it may be said intellectual motion is." — Lady M'Leod 
asked, if no man was naturally good ? — Johnson. " No, 
madam, no more than, a wolf." Bosivell. " Nor no 
woman, sir ?" Johnson. *' No, sir." Lady M'Leod 
started at this, saying, in a low. voice, " This is worse 
than Swift." 

M'Leod of Ulinish had come in the afternoon. We 
were a jovial company at supper. The Laird, surround- 
ed by so many of his clan, was to me a pleasing sight. 



ill JdUilNAL OF A TOUR 

They listened with wonder and pleasure, while Dr. 
^,^ohnson harangued. I am vexed that I cannot take 
down his full strain of eloquence. 

Wednesday^ 1 5th Septembei'. 

The gentlemen of the clan went away early in the 
morning to the harbour ,of Lochbradale, to take leave 
of some of their friends who were going to America. 
It was a very wet day. We looked at Rorie More's 
horn, which is a large cow's horn, with the mouth of it 
ornamented with silver .curiously carved. It holds 
rather more than a bottle and a half. Every Laird of 
M'Leod, it is said, must, as a proof of his manhood, 
drink it off full of claret, without laying it down. — 
From Rorie More many of the branches of the family 
are descended ; in particular, the Talisker branch ; so 
that his name is much talked of. We also saw his bow, • 
which hardly any man now can bend, and his Glaymore^ 
which was wielded with both hands, and is of a prodi- 
gious size. We saw here some old pieces of iron 
armour, immensely heavy. The broad-sword now used, 
though called the Glaymore, (i e. the great sword, J is 
much smaller than that used in Rorie More's time. 
Therfc is hardly a target now to be found in the High- 
lands. After the disarming act, they made them serve 
as covers to their butter-milk barrels ; a kind of change, 
like beating spears into pruning-hooks. 
, Sir George Mackenzie's Works (the folio edition) 

happened to lie in a window in the dining room. I 
asked Dr. Johnson to look at the Characteres Advo- 
catorum. He allowed him power of mind, and that he 
understood very well what he tells ; but said, that there 
was too much declamation, and that the Latin was not 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 197 

correct. He found fault with appropinquabant, in the 
character of Gilmour. I tried him with the opposition 
between ^/orm and palma^ in the comparison between 
Gilmour and Nisbet, which Lord Hailes, in his Cata- 
logue of the Lords of Session, thinks difficult to be un- 
derstood. The words are, '-'■ penes ilium gloria^ penes 
hune palma^ — In a short Account of the Kirk of Scot- 
land, which I published some years ago, I applied these 
words to the two contending parties, and explained them 
thus: "The popular party has most eloquence; Dr. 
Robertson's party most influence." — I was very desirous 
to hear Dr. Johnson's explication. — Johnson. " I see 
no difficulty. Gilmour was admired for his parts; 
Nisbet carried his cause by his skill in law. Palma is 
victory." — I pbserved, that the character of Nicholson, 
in this book resembled that of Burke : for it is said, in 
one place, " in omnes lusos ^Jocos se seepe resolvebat ;^ 
and in another, *■'• sed accipitris more e conspectu aliquando 
astantium suhlimi se protrahens volatu^ in praedam miro 
impetu descendebat.''''-\ — Johnson. "No, sir; I never 
heard Burke make a good joke in my life " — BoswelL 
"But sir, you will allow he is a hawk." — Dr. Johnson, 
thinking that I meant this of his joking, said, " No, sir, 
he is not a hawk there. He is the beetle in the mire." 
— li still adhered to my metaphor, — " But he soars as 
the hawk." — Johnson. "Yes, sir; but he catches 
nothing." — IVl'Leod asked, what is the particular 
excellence of Burke's eloquence ? — Johnson. " Copi- 
ousness, and fertility of allusion; a power of diversify- 
ing his matter, by placing it in various relations. Burke 

* He often indulged himself in every species of pleasantry and wit. 

f But like the hawk, having soared with a lofty flight to a height which the 
eye could not reach, hg., yy^s ..H8fl t ^ swoop upon his quarry with wonderful 
rapidity . 



I-. 



198 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

has great information, and great command of language ; 
though, in my opinion, it has not in every respect the 
highest elegance."— ^o^e//. "Do you think*, sir, 
that Burke has read Cicero much ^—Johnson. " I don't 
believe it, sir. Burke has great knowledge, great 
fluency of words, and great promptness of ideas, so that 
he can speak with great illustration on any subject that 
comes before him. He is neither like Cicero, nor like 
Demosthenes, nor like any one else, but speaks as well 
as he can." 

In the 65th page of the first volume of Sir George 
Mackenzie, Dr. Johnson pointed out a paragraph begin^ 
ning ^vith Aristotle, and told me there was an error in the 
text, which he bade me try to discover. I was lucky 
enough to hit it at once. As the passage is printed, it 
is said that the devil answers even in engines. I cor- 
rected it to— ^«?r in anigmas. "Sir, (said he,) you 
are a good critick. This would have been a great thing 
to do in the text of an ancient authour." 

Thursday^ &th September. 

Last night much care was taken of Dr. Johnson, 
who was still distressed by his cold. He had hitherto 
most strangely slept without a night-cap. Miss M'Leod 
made him a large flannel one, and he was prevailed with 
to drink a little brandy when he was going to bed. He 
has great virtue, in not drinking wine or any fermented 
liquor, because, as he acknowledged to us, he could not. 
do it in moderation.— Lady M'Leod would hardly be- 
lieve him, and said, " I am sure, sir, ypu would not 
carry it too ^^v.^'— Johnson. " Nay, madam, it carried 
me. I took the opportunity of a long illness to leave it 
off. It was then prescribed to me not to drink wine; 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 199 

3nd having broken off the habit, I have never returned 

to it." 

# 

In the argument on Tuesday night, about natural 
goodness, Dr. Johnson denied that any child was better 
than another, but by difference of instruction ; though, 
in consequence of greater attention being paid to instruc- 
tion by one child tjian another, and of a variety of im- 
perceptible causes, such as instruction being coun- 
teracted by servants, a notion was conceived, that of 
two children, equally well educated, one was naturally 
much worse than the other. He owned, this morning, 
that one might have a greater aptitude to learn than ano- 
ther, and that we inherit dispositions from our parents. 
" I inherited, (said he,) a vile melancholy from mj' 
father, which has made me mad all my life, at least not 
sober." — Lady M'Leod wondered he should tell this. — 
" Madam, (said I,) he knows that with that madness he 
is superior to other men." 

I have often been astonished with what exactness 
and perspicuity he will explain the process of any art. 
He this morning explained to us all the operation of 4§ 
coining, and, at night, all the operation of brewing, so 
very clearly, that Mr. M'Queen said, when he heard the 
first, he thought he had been bred in the Mint ; when 
he heard the second, that he had been bred a brewer. 

I was elated by the thought of having been able to 
-entice such a man to this remote part of the world. A 
ludicrous, yet just, image presented itself to my mind, 
which I expressed to the company. 1 compared my- 
self to a dog who has got hold of a large piece of meat, 
and runs away with it to a corner, where he may devour 
it in peace, without any fear of others taking it from him. 
*' In Londdn, Reynolds, Beauclerk, and all of them, are 



» 




200 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

contending who shall enjoy Dr. Johnson's conversation. 
We are feasting upon it, undisturbed, at Dunvegan." 

It was still a storm of wind and rain. Dr Johnsbn 
however walked out with M'Leod, and saw Rorie 
More's cascade infuli perfection. Colonel M'Leod, in- 
stead of being all life and gaiety, as I have seen him, was 
at present grave, and somewhat depressed by his anx- 
ious concern about M'Leod's affairs, and by finding 
some gentlemen of the clan by no means disposed to 
act a generous or affectionate part to their Chief in his 
distress, but bargaining with him as with a stranger. 
However, he was agreeable and polite, aiid Dr. Johnson 
said, he was a very pleasing man.^ — My fellow-travel- 
ler and I talked of going to Sweden; and, while we 
were settling our plan, I expressed a pleasure in the 
prospect of seeing the king. — Johnson. " I doubt, sir, 
ijfll^ would speak to us."— Colonel M'Leod said, " I 
am sure Mr. Boswell would speak to Am." But, see- 
ing me a little disconcerted by his remark, he politely 
added, " and with great propriety." — Here let me offer 
a short defence of that propensity in my disposition, to 
which this gentleman alluded. It has procured me much 
happiness. I hope it does not deserve so hard a name 
as either forwardness or impudence. If I know myself, 
it is nothing more than an eagerness to share the society 
of men distinguished either by their rank or their talents, 
and a diligence to attain what I desire. If a man is 
praised for seeking knowledge, though mountains and 
seas g.re in his way, may he not be pardoned, whose ar- 
dour, in the pursuit of the same object, leads him to en- 
counter difficulties as great, though of a different kind ? 

After the ladies were gone from table, we talked of 
the Highlanders not having sheets ; and this led us to 
consider the advantage of wearing linen. — Johnson. 



;^ -to THE HEBRIDES. 201 

^^ All animal substances are less cleanly than vegetables. 
Wool, of which flannel is made, is an animal substance j 
flannel therefore is not so cleanly as linen. I remember 
I used to think tar dirty ; but when I knew it to be 
only a preparation of the j nice of the pine, I thought so 
no longer. It is not disagreeable to have the gum that 
oozes from a plumb-tree upon your fingers, because it 
is vegetable ; but if you have any candle -grease, any 
tallow upon your fingers, you are uneasy till you rub it 
off. — I have often thought, that, if I kept a seraglio, the 
ladies should, all wear linen gowns, — or cotton ;— I mean 
stuffs made of vegetable substances. 1 would have no 
silk ; you cannot tell when it is clean : It will be very 
nasty before it is perceived to be so. Linen detects its 
own dirtiness." 

To hear the grave Dr. Samuel Johnson, " that ma- 
jestick teacher of moral and religious wisdom," while 
sitting solemn in an arm-chair in the isle of Sky, talk, 
eoc cathedra, of his keeping a seraglio, and acknowledge 
that the supposition had often been in his thoughts, 
struck me so forcibly with ludicrous contrast, that I 
could not but laugh immoderately He was too proud 
to submit, even for a moment, to be the object of ridi- 
cule, and instantly retaliated with such keen sarcastick 
wit, and such a variety of degrading images, of every 
one jpf which I was the object, that, though I., can bear 
such attacks as well as most men, I yet found myself so 
much the sport of all the company, that I would gladly 
expunge from my mind every trace of this severe 
retort. 

Talking of our friend Langton's house in Lincoln- 
shire, he said, " the old house of the family was burnt, 
A temporary building was erected in its room ; and to 
this they have been always adding as the family in- 

D d 



A 
" 



# 



..f 2.C^ JOURNAL OP A TOUR 

creased. It is like a shi;:t made for a man when lie 
was a child, and enlarged always as he grows older." 

. We talked to- night of Luther's allowing the Land- 
grave of Hesse two wives, and that it was with the con- 
sent of the ^vife to whom he was first married,. — Johrt" 
mn, '* There Vv-as no harm in this, so far as she was- 
only concerned, because volenti nen Jit injuria. But it 
was art offence against the general order of society, and 
against the law of the Gospel, by which one man and 
<me woman are to be united. No man can have two 
wives, but by preventing somebody else from having 
one." 

Friday-^ 11 th September. 

I . 

After dinner yesterday, we had a conversation upon- 
cimning. M'Leod said that he was not afraid of cun- 
ning people ; but would let them play their tricks about 
him like monkeys, "But, (said I,) they'll scratch;" 
and Mr. M'Queen added, " they'll invent new tricks, 
as soon as you find out what they do." — Johnson, 
** Cunning has effect from the credulity of others, rather 
than from the abilities of those who are cunning. It 
requires no extraordinary talents to lie and deceive." — 
This led us to consider whether it did not require great 
abilities to be very wicked. — Johnson. " It requires 
great abilities to have the power of being very wicked ; 
but not to be very wicked. A man who has the power^ 
which great abilities procure him, may use it well or ill j 
and it requires more abilities to use it well, than to use 
it ill. Wickedness is always easier than virtue ; for it 
takes the short cut to every thing. It is much easier to 
steal a hundred pounds, than to get it by labour, or any 
©ther way. Consider only what act of wickedness re» 



TO THE HEBRIDES. -203 

jquircs great abilities to commit it, when once the per- 
son who is to do it has the power ; for there is the dis- 
tinction. It requires great abilities to conquer an army, 
but none to massacre it after it is conquered." 

The weather this day was rather better than any that 
we had since we came to Dunvegan. Mr. M'Queeii 
had often mentioned a curious piece of antiquity near 
thiSj which he called a temple of the Goddess Anaitk. 
Having often talked of going to see it, he and I set out 
after breakfast, attended by his servant, a fellow quite 
like a savage. I must observe here, that in Sky there 
seems to be much idleness.; for men and boys follow 
jou, as colts follow passengers upon a road. The 
usual figure of a Sky-boy, is a town with bare legs aiid 
feet, a dirty kilt^ ragged coat and waistcoat, a bare head, 
and a stick in his hand, which I suppose is partly to 
%elp the lazy rogue to walk, partly to serve as a kind of 
a defensive weapon. We walked what is called two 
miles, but is probably four, from the castle, till we came 
to the sacred place. The country around is a black 
drear}^ moor on all sides, except to the sea-coast, to- 
wards which there is a view through a valley:; anel the 
larm of Batj^ shews some good land. The place itself 
is green ground, being well drained, by means of a deep 
glen on each side, in both of which there runs a rivulet 
with a good quantity of water, forming several cascades 
which make a considerable appearance and sound. The 
first thing we came to was an earthen mound, or dyke, 
extending from the one precipice to the other. A little 
■farther on, was a strong stone- wall, not high, but vefy 
thick, extending in *the same manner. On the outside 
of it were the ruins of two houses, one on each side of 
the entry or gate to it. The wall is built all along c^ 
luicemented &tones, but of so large a size a,s loinakii&ji 






204 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

very firm and durable rampart. It has been built all 
about the consecrated ground, except where the preci- 
pice is steep enough to form an enclosure of itself. The 
sacred spot contains more than two acres. There are 
within it the ruins of many houses, none of them large, 
— a cairn, — and many graves marked by clusters of 
stones. Mr. M'Queen insisted that the ruin of a small 
building, standing east and west, was actually the tem- 
ple of the Goddess Anaitis, where her statue was kept, 
and from whence processions were made to wash it in 
one of the brooks. There is, it must be owned, a hol- 
low road visible for a good way from the entrance ; but 
Mr. McQueen, with the keen eye of an antiquary, tra- 
ced it much farther than I could perceive it. There is 
not above a foot and a half in height of the walls now 
remaining ; and the whole extent of the building was 
never, I imagine, greater than an ordinary Highland 
Jiouse. Mr. M'Queen has collected a great deal of 
learning on the subject of the temple of Anaitis, and I 
had endeavoured, in my Journal, to state such particu- 
lars as might give some idea of it, and of the surround- 
ing scenery ; but, from the great difficulty of describ- 
ing visible objects, I found my account so unsatisfac- 
tory, that my readers would probably have exclaimed 

" And write about it, Goddess, and about it j" 

and therefore I have omitted it. 

When we got home, and were again at table with> 
Dr. Johnson, we first talked of portraits. He agreed 
in thinking them valuable in families. I wished to 
know which he preferred, fine portraits, or those of 
which the merit was resemblance. — Johnson". "Sir, 
their chief excellence is in being like." — BoswelL 
" Are you of that opinion, as to the portraits of anoes- 



*'#d" THE HEBRIDES. 205' 

tors whom one has never seen ?" — Johnson. *' It then 
becomes of more consequence that they should behkej 
and I would have them in the dress of the times, which 
makes a piece of history. One should like to see how 
Rorie More looked. Truth, sir, is of the greatest 
value in these things." — Mr. M 'Queen observed, that 
if you think it of no consequence whether portraits are 
like, if they are but well painted, you may be indif- 
ferent whether a piece of history is true or not, if well 
told. *» 

'A- Dr. Johnson said at breakfast to day, "that it was 
but of late that historians bestowed pains and attention 
in consulting records, to attain to accuracy. Bacon, in 
writing his History of Henry VH, does not seem to 
have consulted any, but to have just taken what he- 
found in other histories, and blended it with what he 
learnt by tradition." He agreed with me that there 
should be a chronicle kept in every considerable 
family, to preserve the characters and transactions of 
successive generations. 

After dinner I started the subject of the temple of 
Anaitis. Mr. M'Queen had laid stress on the name 
given to the place by the country people,— ./^mwzV ,• and 
added, " I knew not what to make of this piece of anti- 
quity, till I met with the Anaitidis deliibr'um in Lydia, 
mentioned by Pausanias and the elder Pliny." — Dr. 
Johnson, with his usual acuteness, examined Mr. 
M'Queen as to the meaning of the word Ainnit, in Erse ; 
and it proved to be a xvater-place, or a place near water, 
" which, said Mr. M'Queen, agrees with all the des- 
criptions of the temples of that goddess, which were 
situated near rivers, that there might be water to wash 
the statue." — Johnson. " Nay, sir, the argument from 
the name is g<?ne. The name is exhausted by what we 






20S JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

see. We have no occasion to go to a distance for what 
we can pick up under our feet Had it been an acci- 
dental name, the similarity between it and Anaitis might 
have had something in it ; but it turns out to be a mere 
physiological name." — Macleod said, Mr. M'Queen's 
knowledge of etymology had destroyed his conjecture. 
— Johnson. " Yes, sir ; Mr. M'Queen is like the eagle 
mentioned by Waller, who was shot with an arrow 
feathered from his own wing,"- — Mr. M' Queen would 
not, however, give up his conjecture.-^/oA?z^07z. " You 
have one possibilit}'^ for you, and all possibilities against 
you. It is possible it may be the temple of Anaitis. 
But it is also possible that it may be a fortiiication % — or 
it may be a place of christian worship, as the first chris- 
tians often chose remote and wild pJaccs, to make an im- 
pression on the mind : — or, if it was a heathen temple, 
at may have been built near a river, for the purpose of 
lustration; and there is such a multitude of divinities, 
to whom it may have been dedicated, that the chance 
of its being a temple of Anaitis is hardly any thing. It 
is like throwing a grain of sand upon the sea-shore to- 
day, and thinking you may find it to-morrow. No, sir ; 
this temple, like many an ili-built edifice, tumbles down 
before it is roofed in." — In his triumph over the reverend 
antiquarian, he indulged himself in a conceit ; for, some 
vestige of the altar of the goddess being much insisted 
on in support of the hypothesis, he said, " Mr. M'Queen 
is fighting /;ro aris et/bcis.^^ 

It was wonderful how well time passed in a remote 
castle, and in dreary v/eather. After supper, we talked 
of Pennant. It was objected that he was superficial. 
Dr. Johnson defended him warmly. He said, " Pennant 
lias greater variety of inquiry than almost any man, and 
^tts told us more than perhaps one in ten thousand could 



iirw 



to THE HEBRIDES. 207 

have done, in the time that he took. He has not said 
what he was to tell ; so you cannot find fault with him^ 
for what he has not told. If a man comes to look for 
fishes, you cannot blame him if he does not attend to 
fowls." — " But, said Colonel M'Leod, he mentions the 
unreasonable rise of rents in the Highlands, and saysj 
*the gentlemen are for emptying the bag, without filling 
it j' for that is the phrase he uses. Why does he not 
tell how to fill ilV-r— Johnson. " Sir, there is no end 
of negative criticism. He tells what he observes, and 
as much as he chooses. If he tells what is not true, you 
may find fault with him ; but though he tells that the 
land is not well cultivated, he is not obliged to tell how 
it may be well cultivated. If I tell that many of the 
Highlanders go bare -footed, I am not obliged to tell 
how they may get slioes. Pennant tells a fact. H^ 
need go no farther, except he pleases. He exhausts 
nothing; and no subject whatever has yet been exhaust- 
ed. But Pennant has surely told a great deal. Here is 
a man six feet high, and you are angry because he is not 
seven." — Notwithstanding this eloquent Oratiopro Pen^ 
nantioy which they who have read this gentleman's 
7ours, and recollect the Savage and the Shopkeeper 
at Monboddo, will probably impute to the spirit of con- 
tradiction, I still think that he had better have given 
more attention to fewer things, than have thrown to- 
gether such a number of imperfect accounts. 

Saturday, \^th September, 

Before breakfast, Dr. Johnson caine up to my room,* 
to forbid me to mention that this was his birth-day ; 
but I told him I had done it already ; at which he was 
displeased ; I suppose from wishing to have no^thin^ 



20S JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

particular done on his account. Lady M'Leod and I 
got into a warm dispute. She wanted to build a house 
upon a farm which she has taken, about five miles from 
the castle, and to make gardens and other ornaments 
there ; all of which I approved of ; but insisted that the 
seat of the family should always be upon the Rock of 
Dunvegan. — Johnson. "Ay, in time we'll build all 
round this rock. You may make a very good house at 
the farm ; but it must not be such as to tempt the Laird 
of M'Leod to go thither to reside. Most of the great 
families of England have a secondary residence, which 
is called a jointure-house : let the new house be of that 
kind." — The lady insisted that the rock was very incon- 
venient ; that there was no place near it where a good 
garden could be made ; that it must always be a rude 
place ; that it was a Herculean labour to make a dinner 
here. — I was vexed to find the alloy of modern refine- 
ment in a lady who had so much old family spirit. — - 
*' Madam, (said I,) if once you quit this rock, there is 
no knowing where you may settle. You move five 
miles first; — then to St. Andrews, as the late Laird 
did ; — then to Edinburgh ; — and so on, till you end at 
Hampstead, or in France. No, no ; keep to the rock : 
it is the very jcAvel of the estate. It looks as if it had 
been let down from heaven by the four corners, to be 
the residence of a Chief. Have all the comforts and con- 
veniencies of life upon it, but never leave Rorie More's 
cascade." — "But, (said she,) is it not enough if we 
keep it ? Must we never have more convenience than 
Rorie More had? He had his beef brought to dinner 
in one basket, and his bread in another. Why not as 
well be Rorie More all over, as live upon his rock ? 
And should not we tire, in looking perpetually on this 
rock ? It is very well for you, who have a fine place, and 



%0 THE HEBRIDES. 209 

every thing easy, to talk thus, and think of chaining 
honest folks to a rock. You would not live upon it 
yourself" — " Yes, madam, (said I,) I would live upon 
it, were I Laird of M'Leod, and should be unhappy if I 
were not upon it." — Johnson, (with a strong voice, and 
most determined manner,) " Madam, rather than quit 
the old rock, Bos well would live in the pit ; he would 
make his bed in the dungeon." — I felt a degree of 
elation, at finding my resolute feudal enthusiasm thus 
confirmed by such a sanction. The lady was puzzled 
a little. She still returned to her pretty farm, — rich 
ground, — fine garden. — "Madam, (said Dr. Johnson,) 
were they in Asia, I would not leave the rock." — My 
opinion on this subject is still the same. An ancient 
family residence ought to be a primary object ; and 
though the situation of Dunvegan be such that little can 
be done here in gardening, or pleasure-ground, yet, in 
addition to the veneration acquired by the lapse of time, 
it has many circumstances of natural grandeur, suited to 
the seat of a Highland Chief : it has the sea, — islands, 
— rocks, — hills, — a noble cascade ; and when the family 
is again in opulence, something may be^doneby art." 

Mr. Donald M'Queen went away to-day, in order 
to preach at Bracadale next day. We were so com- 
fortably situated at Dunvegan, that Dr. Johnson could 
hardly be moved from it. I proposed to him that we 
should leave it 'on Monday. " No, sir, (said he,) I will 
not go before Wednesday. I will have some more of 
this good." — However, as the weather was at this season 
so bad, and so very uncertain, and we had a great 
deal to do yet, Mr. M'Queen and I prevailed with him 
to agree to set out on Monday, if the day should be 
good. Mr. M'Queen, though it was inconvenient for 
him to be absent from his harvest, engaged to .wait on 

E e 



41* 



2^ JOURNAL OF A TOlJtl 

Monday at Ulinish for us. When lie was going aWay^ 
Dr. Johnson said, " I shall ever retain a great regard 

for you ;" then asked him if he had the Rambler. ' 

Mr. M'Queen said, " No ; but my brother has it."^^ 
Johnson. " Have you the /(f/^r /"' — M'Queen. "No, 
sir." — Johnson. '■'■Thtw I will order one for you at 
Edinburgh, which you will keep in remembrance of 
me." — Mr. M'Queen was much pleased with this. He 
expressedto me, in the strongest terms, his admiration of 
Dr. Johnson's wonderful knowledge, and every other 
quality for which he is distinguished. I asked Mr. 
M'Queen, if he was satisfied with being a minister in 
Sky. He said he was ; but he owned that his fore- 
fathers having been so long there, and his having been 
born there, made a chief ingredient in forming his con- 
tentment. I shoaid have mentioned, that, on our left 
hand, betweed Portree and 'Dr. Macleod's house, Mr. 
M'Queen told me there had been a college of the 
Knights Templars ; that tradition said so ; arid that 
there was a ruin remaining of their church, which had 
been burnt : but I confess Dr. Johnson has weakened 
my belief in r^ote tradition. In the dispute about 
Anaitis, Mr. M'Queen said, Asia Minor was peopled 
by Scythians, and, as they were the ancestors of the 
Cel|s, the same religion tnight be in Asia Minor and 
Sky. — -Johnson. " Alas 1 sir, what can a nation that 
has not letters tell of its original. I have always diffi- 
culty to be patient when I hear authours gravely quoted, 
as giving accounts of savage nations, which accounts 
they had from the savages themselves. What can the 
M'Craas tell about themselves a thousand years ago? 
There is no tracing the connection of ancient nations, 
but by language ; and therefore I am always sorry when 
any language is lost, because languages are the pedi- 



#TO THE HEBRIDES. 211 

gree of nations. If you find the same language in dis- 
tant countries, you may be sure that the inhabitants of 
each have been the same people ; that is to say, if you 
find the languages a good dea.1 the same ; for a word here 
and there being the same, will not do. Thus Butler, 
in his Hudibras^ remembering that Penguiiiy in the 
Straits of Magellan, signifies a bird with a white head, 
and that the same word has, in Wales, the signification 
of a white-headed wench, (pen head, and ^z^m white,) 
by way of ridicule, concludes that the people of those 
Straits are Welch." 

A young gentleman of the name of M'Lean, nephews 
to the Laird of the isle of Muck, came this morning ; 
and, just as we sat down to dinner, came the Laird of 
the isle of Muck himself, his lady, sister to Talisker, 
two other ladies their relations, and a daughter of the 
late M'Leod of Hamer, who wrote a treatise on the se- 
cond sight, under the designation of Theophilus Insula- 
nus. It was somewhat droll to hear this Laird called by 
his title. Muck would have sounded ill ; so he was 
called Isle of Muck ^ which went off with great readiness. 
The name, as now written, is unseem]^,. but is not so 
bad in the original Erse, which is Mouach^ signifying 
the Sow's Island. Buchanan calls it Insula Porcorum. 
It is so called from its form. Some call it Isle of Monk. 
The Laird insists that this is the proper name. It was 
formerly church-land belonging to Icolmkill, and a her- 
mit lived in it. It is two miles long, and about three 
quaiters of a mile broad. The Laird said, he had seven 
score of souls upon it. Last year he had eighty per- 
sons inoculated, mostly children, but some of them 
eighteen years of age. He agreed with the surgeon to 
come and do it, at half a crown a head. — It is very fer- 
tile in com, of which they export some j and its coasts 



Ki- 



212 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

abound in fish. A taylor comes there six times in a 
year. They get a good blacksmith from the isle of 

Sundaify 19th September. 

It was rather worse weather than any that we had 
yet. At breakfast Dr. Johnson said, " Some cunning 
men choose fools for their wiyes, thinking to manage 
diem, but they always fail. There is a spaniel fool and 
a mule fool. The spaniel fool may be made to do by 
beating. The mule fool will neither do by words or 
blows ; and the spaniel fool often turns mule at last : 
and suppose a fool to be made do pretty well, you must 
have the continual trouble of making her do. Depend 
upon it, no woman is the worse for sense and know- 
ledge." — Whether afterwards he meant merely to say 
a polite thing, or to give his opinion, I could not be 
sure ; but he added, " Men know that women are an 
over- match for them, and therefore they choose the 
weakest or most ignorant. If they did not think so, they 
never could be afraid of women knowing as much as 
themselves." — -In justice to the sex, I think it but can- 
did to acknowledge, that, in a subsequent conversation, 
he told me that he was serious in what he had said. 

He came to my room this morning before breakfast, 
to read my Journal, which he has done all along. He 
often before said, " I take great delight in reading it." 
To-day he said, " You improve ; it grows better and 
better." — I observed, there was a danger of my getting 
a habit of writing in a slovenly manner. — "• Sir, said he, 
it is not written in a slovenly manner. It might be print- 
ed, were tlie subject fit for printing."* — While Mr. 

* As I have faithfully recorded so many minute particulars, I hope I shall be 
pardoned for inserting so flattering an encomium on what is now offered to the 
publick. 



:M. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 213 



Beaton preached to us in the dining-room, Dr. Johnson 
sat in his own room, where I saw lying before him, a 
volume of Lord Bacon's works, the Decay of Christian 
Piety y Monboddo's Origin of Language^ and Sterne's 
Sermons. — He asked me to-day, how it happened that 
we were so little together : I told him, my Journal took 
up much time. Yet, on reflection, it appeared strange 
to me, that although I will run from one end of Lon- 
don to another, to pass an hour with him, I should omit 
to seize any spare time to be in his company, when I 
am settled in the same house with him. But my Jour- 
nal is really a task of much time and labour, and he for- 
bids me to contract it. 

I omitted to mention, in its place, that Dr. Johnson 
told Mr. M'Queen that he had found the belief of the 
second sight universal in Sky, except among the clergy 
who seemed determined against it. I took the liberty 
to observe to Mr. M'Queen, that the clergy were ac- 
tuated by a kind of vanity. " The w»rld, (say they,) 
takes us to be credulous men in a remote corner. 
We'll shew them that we are more enlightened than 
they think." The worthy man said, that his disbelief 
of it was from his not finding sufficient evidence ; but 
I could perceive that he was prejudiced against it. 

After dinner to-day, we talked of the extraordinary 
fact of Lady Grange's being sent to St. Kilda, and con- 
fined there for several years, without any means of re- 
lief.* Dr. Johnson said, if M'Leod would let it be 

* The true story of this lady, which happened in this century, is as frightfully 
romantick, as if it had been the fiction of a gloomy fancy. She was the wife of 
one of the Lords of Session in Scotland, a man of the very first blood of his coun- 
try. For some mysterious reasons, which have never been discovered, she was 
seized, and carried off in the dark, she knew not by whom, and by nightly jour- 
nies was conveyed to the Highland shores, from whence she was transported by 
sea to the remote rock of St. Kilda, where she remained, amongst its few wild 



^mt 



214? JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

known that he had such a place for naughty ladies, he 
mighty make it a very profitable island. — We had, in 
the course of our tour, heard of St. Kilda poetry. Dr. 
Johnson observed, " it must be very poor, because they 
have very few images." — BoswelL " There may be a 
poetical genius shewn in combining these, and in mak- 
ing poetry of them." — Johnson. " Sir a man cannot 
make fire but in proportion as he has fuel. He cannot 
coin guineas but in proportion as he has gold." — At 
tea he talked of his intending to go to Italy in 1775. 
M'Leod said, he would like Paris better. — Johnson. 
" No, sir ; there are none of the French literati now 
alive, to visit whom I would cross a sea. I can find 
in Buffon's book all that he can say."* 



inhabitants, a forlorn prisoner, but had a constant supply of provisions, and 
a woman to wait on her. No inquiry was made after her, till she at last found 
means to convey a letter to a confidential friend, by the daughter of a Cate- 
chist, who concealed it in a clue of yarn. Information being thus obtained at 
Edinburgh, a ship was sent to bring her oif ; but intelligence of this being received, 
she was conveyed to M'Leod's island of Harries, where she died. 

In Carstare's State Papers, we find an authentick narrative of Connor, a Ca- 
tholick priest, who turned protestant, 6«ing seized by some of Lord Seaforth's 
people, and detained prisoner in the island of Herries several years ; he was fed 
with bread and water, and lodged in a house where he was exposed to the rains 
and cold. Sir Jannes Ogilvy writes, (June 18, 1667, ) that the Lord Chancellor, 
the Lord Advocate, and himself, were to meet next day, to take effectual me- 
thods to have this redressed. Connor was then still detained, p. 310. — This 
shews what private oppression might in the last century be practised in the He- 
brides. 

In the same collection, the Earl of Argj'le gives a picturesque account of an 
embassy from the great M-Neil of Barra, as that insular Chief used to be deno- 
minated. — " I received a letter yesterday from M'Neil of Barra, who lives very 
far off, sent by a gentleman in all formality, offering his service, which had made 
you laugh to see his entry. His style of his letter runs as if he were of another 
kingdom." — P. 643. 

* I doubt the justice of my fellow-traveller's remark concerning the French 
literati, many of whom, I am told, have considerable merit in conversation, as 
well as in their writings. That of Monsieur de Buffon, in particular, I am well, 
assured is highly instructive and entertaining. 



wr 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 215 



After supper he said, " I am sorry that prize-fight- 
ing is gone out; every art should be^. preserved, and 
the art of defence is surely important. It is absurd that 
our soldiers should have swords, and not be taught the 
use of them. Prize -fightir.g made people accustomed 
not to be alrrmed at seeing their own blood, or feeling 
a little pain from a wound. I think the hesivy glai/more 
was an ill-contrived weapon. A man could only strike 
once with it. It employed both his hands, and he must 
of course be soon fatigued with wielding it ; so that if 
his antagonist could only keep playing a while, he was 
sure of him. I would fight with a dirk against Rorie 
More's sword. I could ward off a blow with a dirk, 
and then run in upon my enemy. When within that 
heavy sword, I have him ; he is quite helpless, and I 
could stab him at my leisure, like a calf. — It is thought 
by sensible military men, that the English do not enough 
avail themselves of their superior strength of body 
against the French ; for that must always have a great 
advantage in pushing with bayonets. I have heard 
an ofiicer say, that if women could be made to stand, 
they would do as well as men in a mere interchange of 
bullets from a distance : but, if a body of men should 
come close up to them, then to be sure they must be 
overcome ; now, (said he,) in the same manner the 
weaker- bodied French must be overcome by our strong 
soldiers." 

The subject of duelling was introduced. — Johnson. 
" There is no case in England where one or other of 
the combatants must die : if you have overcome your 
adversary by disarming him, that is sufficient, though 
you should not kill him ; your honour, or the honour 
of your family, is restored, as much as it can be by a 
duel. It is cowardly to force your antagonist to renew 




^ll JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

the combat, when you know that you haye the 'advan- 
tage of him by superior skill. You might just as well 
go and cut his throat while he is asleep in his bed. 
When a duel begins, it is supposed there may be an 
equality ; because it is not always skill that prevails. 
It depends much on presence of mind ; nay on acci- 
dents. The wind may be in a man's face. He may 
fall. Many such things may decide the superiority. — 
A man is sufficiently punished, be being called out, and 
subjected to the risk that is in a duel." But on my 
suggesting that the injured person is ejqually subjected 
to risk, he fairl}'' owned he could not explain the ration- 
ality of duelling. 

Monday^ 2Qth September. 

When I awaked, the storm was higher still. It 
abated about nine, and the sun shone ; but it rained 
again very soon, and it was not a day for travelling. At 
breakfast, Dr. Johnson told us, "there was once a 
pretty good tavern in Catharine-street in the Strand, 
where very good company met in an evening, and each 
man called for his own half- pint of wine, or gill, if he 
pleased ; they were frugal men, and nobody paid but 
for what he himself drank. The house furnished no 
supper ; but a woman attended with mutton-pies, which 
any body might purchase. I was introduced to this 
company by Gumming the Quaker, and used to go 
there sometimes when I drank wine. In the last age, 
when my mo'ftier lived in London, there were two sets 
of people, those who gave the wall, and those who took 
it; the peaceable and the quarrelsome. When I re- 
turned to Lichfield, after having been in London, my 
mother asked me, w^hether I v/as one of those who gave 





TO THE HEBRIDES. ^ 217 

the wall, or those who took it. Now, it is fixed 
that every man keeps to the right ; or, if one is taking 
the wall, another yields it, and it is never a dispute." 
— He was very severe on a lady, whose name was 
mentioned. He said, he would have sent her to St. 
Kilda. That she was as bad as negative badness 
could be, and stood in the way of what was good : 
that insipid beauty would not go a great way; and 
that such a woman might be cut out of a cabbage, if 
there was a skilful artificer. 

M'Leod was too late in coming to breakfast. Dr. 
Johnson said, laziness was worse than the tooth-ach.-— 
Boswell. " I cannot agree with you, sir ; a bason of 
cold water, or a horse- whip, will cure laziness." — John- 
son. " No, sir ; it will only put off" the fit ; it will not 
cure the disease. I have been trying to cure my lazi- 
ness all my life, and could not do it." — Boswell. " But 
if a man does in a shorter time what might be the labour 
of a life, there is nothing to be said against him." — - 
Johnson (perceiving at once that I alluded to him and 
his dictionary). " Suppose that flattery to be true, the 
consequence would be, that the world would have no 
right to censure a man ; but that will not justify him to 
himself." 

After breakfast, he said to me, " A Highland Chief 
should now endeavour to do every thing to raise his 
rents, by means of the industry of his people. For- 
merly, it was right for him to have his house full of 
idle fellows ; they were his defenders, his servants, his 
dependants, his friends. Now they may be better em- 
ployed. The system of things is now so much altered, 
that the family cannot have influence but by riches, be- 
cause it has no longer the power of ancient feudal times. 
An individual of a family may have it ; but it cannot 

Ff 



218 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

now belong to a family, unless you could have a per- 
petuity of men with the same views. M'Leod has four 
times the land that the Duke of Bedford has. I think, 
with his spirit, he may in time make himself the greatest 
man in the king's dominions ; for land may always be 
improved to a certain degree. I would never have any 
man sell land, to throw money into the funds, as is often 
done, or to try any other species of trade. Pepend 
upon it, this rage of trade will destroy itself. You and 
I shall not see it ; but the time will come when there 
will be an end of it. Trade is like gaming. If a \vhole 
company are gamesters, play must cease ; for there is 
nothing to be won. When all nations are traders, there 
is nothing to be gained by trade, and it will stop first 
where it is brought to the greatest perfection. Then 
the proprietors of land only will be the great men."- — 
I observed, it was hard that M'Leod should find in- 
gratitude in so many of his people. — Johnson. " Sir 
gratitude is a fruit of great cultivation ; you do not find 
it among gross people." — I doubt of this. Nature 
seems to have implanted gratitude in all living creatures. 
The lion, mentioned by Valerius Maximus, had it. It 
appears to me that culture, which brings luxury and 
selfishness with it, has a tendency rather to weaken than 
promote this affection. 

Dr. Johnson said this morning, when talking of our 
setting out, that he was in the state in which Lord 
Bacon represents kings. He desired the end, but did 
not like the means. He wished much to get home, 
but was unwilling to travel in Sky. — ^'- You are like 
kings too in this, sir, (said I,) that you must act under 
the direction of others." 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 219 

Tuesday i 2\st September. 

The uncertainty of our present situation having pre- 
vented me from receiving any letters from home for 
some time, I could not help being uneasy. Dr. John- 
son had an advantage over me, in this respect, he having 
no wife or child to occasion anxious apprehensions in 
his mind. — It was a good morning ; so we resolved to 
set out. But, before quitting this castle, where we have 
been so well entertained, let me give a short descrip- 
tion of it. 

Along the edge of the rock, there are the remains 
of a wall, which is now covered with ivy. A square 
court is formed by buildings of different ages, par- 
ticularly some towers, said to be of great antiquity ; 
and at one place there is a row of false cannon of stone. 
There is a very large unfinished pile, four stories high, 
which we were told was here when Leod^ the first of this 
family, came from the Isle of Man, married the heiress 
of the M'Crails, the ancient possessors of Dunvegan, 
and afterwards acquired by conquest as much land as he 
had got by marriage. He surpassed the house of 
Austria ; for he was felix both bella gerere et nubere. 
John Break M'Leod, the grandfather of the late laird, 
began to repair the castle, or rather to complete it: but he 
did not live to finish his undertaking. Not doubting, 
however, that he should do it, he, like those who have 
had their epitaphs written before they died, ordered the 
following inscription, composed by the minister of the 
parish, to be cut upon a broad stone above one of the 
lower windows, where it still remains to celebrate what 
was not done, and to serve as a memento of the uncer* 
tainty of life, and the presumption of man : 



220 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

"Joannes MacleOd Beganoduni Dominus gentis 
suae Philarchus Durinesise Haraiae Vatcrnesiae, &c. 
Baro D. Florae Macdoiiald matrimoniali vinculo con- 
JLigaius turrem banc Beganodunensem proavorum 
habitaculum longe vetustissimum diu penitus labefec- 
tatam Anno aerse vulgaris MDCLXXXVI instauravit. 

" Quem stabilire juvat proavorum tecta vetusta, 

" Omne scelus fugiat, justitiamque colat. 

" Verlit in aerias turves niagalia virtus, 

" Inque casas humiles tecta superba nefas." 

M'Leod and Talisker accompanied us. We passed 
by the parish church of Dwinish. The church-yard is 
not enclosed, but a pretty murmuring brook runs along 
one side of it. In it is a pyramid erected to the memory 
of Thomas Lord Lovat, by his son Lord Simon, who 
suffered on Tower-hill. It is of free-stone, and, I sup- 
pose about thirty feet high. There is an inscription on a 
piece of white marble inserted in it, which I suspect to 
have been the composition of Lord Lovat himself, being 
much in his pompous style : 

"This pyramid was erected by Simon Lord 
Fraser of Lovat, in honor of Lord Thomas 
his Father, a Peer of Scotland, and chief of the great 
and ancient Clan of the Frasers. Being attacked for 
his birthright by the family of Atholl, then in power 
and favour with King William, yet, by the valour 
and fidelity of his clan, and the assistance of the Camp- 
bells, the old friends and allies of his family, he de- 
fended his birthright with such greatness and fermety of 
soul, and such valour and activity, that he was an 
honour to his name, and a good pattern to all brave 
Chiefs of clans. He died in the month of May, 1699, 
in the 63d year of his age, in Dun vegan, the house of 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 221 

the Laird of Mac Leod, whose sister he had mar- 
ried: by whom he had the above Simon Lord 
Fraser, and several other children. And, for the 
great love he bore to the family of Mac Leod, he 
desired to be buried near his wife's relations, in the place 
where two of her uncles lay. And his son, Lord 
Simon, to shew to posterity his great affection for his 
mother's kindred, the brave M4C Leods, chooses rather 
to leave his father's bones with them, than carry them 
to his own burial-place, near Lovat." 

I have preserved this inscription, though of no great 
value, thinking it characteristical of a man who has made 
some noise in the world. Dr. Johnson said, it was poor 
stuff, such as Lord Lovat's butler might have written. 

I observed, in this church-yard, a parcel of people 
assembled at a funeral, before the grave was dug. The 
coffin, with the corpse in it, was placed on the ground, 
while the people alternately assisted in making a grave. 
One man, at a little distance, was busy cutting a long 
turf for it, with the crooked spade which is used in 
Sky; a very auk ward instrument. The iron part of it 
is like a plough-coulter. It has a rude tree for a han- 
dle, in which a wooden pin is placed for the foot to press 
upon. A traveller might, without further enquiry, have 
set this down as the mode of burying in Sky. I was 
told, however, that the usual way is to have a grave pre- 
viously dug. 

I observed to-day, that the common way of carrying 
home their grain here is in loads on horseback. They 
have also a few sleds, or cars, as we call them in Ayr- 
shire, clumsily made, and rarely used. 

We got to Ulinish about six o'clock, and found a 
very good farm-house, of two stories. Mr. M'Leod of 



222 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

Uiinish, the sheriff-substitute of the island, was a plain 
honest gentleman, a good deal like an English justice of 
peace ; not much given to talk, but sufficiently saga- 
cious, and somewhat droll. His daughter, though she 
was never out of Sky, was a very well-bred woman. — 
Our reverend friend, Mr. Donald M'Queen, kept his 
appointment, and met us here. 

Talking of Phipp's voyage to the North Pole, Dr. 
Johnson observed, that it " was conjectured that our 
former navigators have kept too near land, and so have 
found the sea frozen far north, because the land hinders 
the free motion of the tide ; but, in the wide ocean, 
where the waves tumble at their full convenience, it is 
imagined that the frost does not take effect." 

Wednesday^ 22d September. 

In the morning I walked out, and saw a ship, the 
Margaret of Clyde, pass by with a number of emigrants 
on board. It was a melancholy sight. — x'lfter break- 
fast, we went to see what was called a subterraneous 
house, about a short mile off. It was upon the side of 
a rising-ground. It was discovered by a fox's having 
taken up his abode in it, and in chacing him, they dug 
into it. It was very narrov/ and low, and seemed about 
forty feet in length. Near it, v/e found the foundations 
of several small huts, built of stone. — Mr. M'Queen, 
who is always for making every thing as ancient as pos- 
sible, boasted that it was the dwelling of some of the 
first inhabitants of the island, and observed, what a cu- 
riosity it was to find here a specimen of the houses of 
the Aborigines^ which he believed could be found no 
where else ; and it was plain that they lived without 
fire. — Dr. Johnson remarked, that they who made this 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 223 

were not in the rudest state : for that it was more diffi- 
cult to make it than to build a house ; therefore cer- 
tainly those who made it were in possession of houses, 
and had this only as a hiding-place. — It appeared to me 
that the vestiges of houses, just by it, confirmed Dr. 
Johnson's opinion. 

From an old tower, near this place, is an extensive 
view of Loch-Braccadil, and, at a distance, of the isles 
of Barra and South Uist ; and on the land-side, the 
Cuilihty a prodigious range of mountains, capped with 
rocky pinnacles in a strange variety of shapes. They 
resemble the mountains near Corte in Corsica, of which 
there is a very good print. They make part of a great 
range for deer, which, though entirely devoid of trees, 
is in these countries called 2^ forest. 

In the afternoon, Ulinish carried us in his boat to an 
island possessed by him, where we saw an immense 
cave, much more deserving the tide of antrum immane 
than that of the Sybil described by Virgil, which I like- 
Avise have visited. It is one hundred and eighty feet 
long, about thirty feet broad, and at least thirty feet high. 
This cave we were told had a remarkable echo ; but we 
found none. They said it was owing to the great rains 
having made it damp. Such are the excuses by which 
the exaggeration of Highland narratives is palliated. — 
There is a plentiful garden at Ulinish, (a great rarity in 
Sky,) and several trees ; and* near the house is a hill, 
which has an Erse name, signifying " the hill of strife.'''' 
where, Mr. M'Queen informed us, justice was of old 
administered. It is like the mons placiti of Scone^ or 
those hills which are called laws^ such as Kelly law, 
North-Berwick law, and several others. It is singular 
that this spot should happen now to be the sheriff's re- 
sidence. 



224 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

We had a very cheerful evening, and Dr. Johnson 
talked a good deal on the subject of literature. — Speak- 
ing of the noble family of Boyle, he said, that all the 
Lord Orrerys, till the present, had been writers. The 
first wrote several plays ; the second was Bentley's an- 
tagonist ; the third wrote the Life of Swift, and seve- 
ral other things ; his son Hamilton wrote some papers 
in the Adventurer and World. He told us, he was well 
acquainted with Swift's Lord Orrery. He said, he was 
a feeble-minded man ; that, on the publication of Dr. 
Delany's Remarks, on his book, he was so much alarm- 
ed that he was afraid to read them. Dr. Johnson com- 
forted him, by telling him they were both in the right ; 
that Delany had seen most of the good side of Swift, — 
Lord Orrery most of the bad. — M'Leod asked, if it was 
not wrong in Orrery to expose the defects of a man with 
whom he lived in intimacy. — Johnson. " Why no, sir, 
after the man is dead ; for then it is done historically." 
He added, " If Lord Orrery had been rich, he would 
have been a very liberal patron. His conversation was 
like his writings, neat and elegant, but without strength. 
He grasped at more than his abilities could reach ; tried 
to pass for a better talker, a better writer, and a better 
thinker than he was. There was a quarrel between 
him and his father, in which his father was to blame ; 
because it arose from the son's not allowing his wife to 
keep company with his father's mistress. The old lord 
shewed his resentment in his will, — leaving his library 
from his son, and assigning, as his reason, that he could 
not make use of it." 

I mentioned the affectation of Orrery, in ending all 
his letters on the Life of Swift in studied varieties 
of phrase, and never in the common mode of " /rfm," 
2s:c. an observation which I remember to have been 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 225 

made several years ago by old Mr. Sheridan. This spe- 
cies of affectation in writing, as a foreign lady of distin- 
guished talents once remarked to me, is almost peculiar 
to the English. I took up a volume of Dryden, con- 
taining the Conquest of Granada^ and several other 
plays, of which all the dedications had such studied 
conclusions. Dr. Johnson said, such conclusions were 
more elegant, and, in addressing persons of high rank, 
(as when Dryden dedicated to the Duke of York,) they 
were likewise more respectful. • I agreed that there it 
was much better : it was making his escape from the 
Royal presence with a genteel sudden timidity, in 
place of having the resolution to stand still, and make a 
formal bow. 

Lord Orrery's unkind treatment of his son in his 
will, led us to talk of the dispositions a man should 
have when dying. I said, I did not see why a man 
should act differently with respect to those of whom 
he thought ill when in health, merely because he was 
dying. — Johnson. " I should not scruple to speak 
against a party, when dying : but should not do it 
against an individual. — It is told of Sixtus Quintus, 
that on his death- bed, in the. intervals of his last pangs, 
he signed death-warrants." — Mr. M'Queen said, he 
should not do so ; he would have more tenderness of 
heart. — Johnson. " I l^elieve I should not either ; but 
Mr. M'Queen and I are cowards. It would not be 
from tenderness of heart ; for the heart is as tender 
when a man is in health as when he is sick, though his 
resolution may be stronger. Sixtus Quintus was a so- 
vereign as well as a priest ; and, if the criminals de- 
served death, he was doing his duty to the last. Youi 
would not think a judge died ill, who should be carried 
off by an apoplectick fit while pronouncing sentence of 



226 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

death. Consider a class of men whose business it is 
to distribute death : — soldiers, who die scattering bul- 
lets. — Nobody thinks they die ill on that account." 

Talking of Biography, he said, he did not think that 
the life of any literary man in England had been well 
written. Beside the common incidents of life, it should 
tell us his studies, his mode of living, the means by 
which he attained to excellence, and his opinion of his 
own works. He told us, he had sent Derrick toDryden's 
relations, to gather materials for his Life j and he 
believed Derrick had got all that he himself should have 
got ; but it was nothing. He added, he had a kindness 
for Derrick, and was sorry he was dead. 

His notion as to the poems published by Mr. 
M'Pherson as the works of Ossian, was not shaken 
here. Mr. M'Queen always evaded the point of au- 
thenticity, saying only that Mr. M'Pherson's pieces fell 
far short of those he knew in Erse, which were said to 
be Ossian's. — Johnson. " I hope they do. I am not 
disputing that you may have poetry of great merit ; 
but that M'Pherson's is not a translation from ancient 
poetry. You do not believe it. I say before you, you 
do not believe it, though you are very willing that the 
world should believe it." — Mr. M'Queen made no an- 
swer to this. — Dr. Johnson proceeded " I look upon 
M'Pherson's Fingal to be as gross an imposition as ever 
the world was troubled with. Had it been really an 
ancient work, a true specimen how men thought at that 
time, it would have been a curiosity of the first rate. 
As a modern production, it is nothing." — He said, he 
could never get the meaning of an Erse song explained 
j^ to him. They told him, the chorus was generally un- 
meaning. "I take it, (said he,) Erse songs are like a 
song which I remember ; it was composed in Queen 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 227, 

Elizabeth's time, on the Earl of Essex ; and the 
burthen was 

<' Radaratoo, radarate, radara tadara tandore." 

" But surely, said Mr. M'Quecn, there were words 
to it, which had meaning. — Johnson. " Why, yes, sir ; 
I recollect a stanza, and you shall have it : 

" O ! then bespoke the prentices all, 

" Living in London, both proper and tall, 

" For Essex's sake they would fight all. 

" Radaratoo, radarate, radara, tadara, tandore."* 

When Mr. M' Queen began again to expatiate on 
the beauty of Ossian's poetry, Dr. Johnson entered into 
no further controversy, but, with a pleasant smile, only 
cried, " Ay, ay ; Radaratoo radarate,'*'' 

Thursday^ 23d September, 

I took Fingal down to the parlour in the morning, 
and tried a test proposed by Mr. Roderick M'Leod, 
son to Ulinish. Mr. M'Queen had said he had some 
of the poem in the original. I desired him to mention 
any pasage in the printed book, of which he could re- 

* This droll quotation, I have since found, was from a song in honour of the 
Earl of Essex, called " ^leen Elizabeth's Chatnpion," which is preserved in a col- 
lection of Old Ballads, in three volumes, published in London in different years, 
between 1720 and 1730. The full verse is as follows : 

" O ! then bespoke the prentices all, 

" Living in London, both proper and tall, 

" In a kind letter sent straight to the Queen, 

*' For Essex's sake they would fight all. 
♦' Raderer too, tandaro te, 
" Raderer, tandorer, tan do re." 



228 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

peat the original. He pointed out one in page 50 of the 
quarto edition, and read the Erse, while Mr. Roderick 
M'Leod and I looked on the English ; — and Mr. 
M'Leod said, that it was pretty like what Mr. M'Que^n 
had recited. But when Mr. M'Queen read a descrip- 
tion of Cuchullin's sword in Erse, together with a 
translation of it in English verse, by Sir James Foulis, 
Mr. M'Leod said, that was much more like than Mr. 
M'Pherson's translation of the former passage. Mr. 
M'Queen then repeated in Erse a description of one of 
the horses in Cuchullin's car. Mr. M'Leod said, Mr. 
M'Pherson's English was nothing like it. 

When Dr. Johnson came down, I told him that I 
had now obtained some evidence concerning Fingal ; 
for that Mr. M'Queen had repeated a passage in the 
original Erse, which Mr. M'Pherson's translation was 
pretty like ; and reminded him, that he himself had once 
said, he did not require Mr. M'Pherson's Ossian to be 
more like the original than Pope's Homer. — Johnson. 
" Well, sir, this is just what I always maintained. He 
has found names, and stories, and phrases, nay passages 
in old songs, and with them has blended his own compo- 
sitions, and so made what he gives to the world as the 

translation of an ancient poem." If this was the 

case, I observed, it was wrong to publish it as a poem 
in six books. — Johnson. " Yes, sir ; and to ascribe it to 
a time too when the Highlanders knew nothing of books, 
and nothing of six ; — or perhaps were got the length 'of 
counting six. We have been told, by Condamine, of 
a nation that could count no more than four. This 
should be told to Monboddo,; it would help him. There 
is as much charity in helping a man down-hill as in 
helping him up-hill," — BosxvelL " I don't think there is 
as much charity." — Johnson. " Yes, sir, if his tendency 



"^ 



T0 THE HEBRIDES. 229 

be downwards. Till he is at the bottom, he flounders ; 
get him once there, and he is quiet. Swift tells, that 
Stella had a trick, which she learned from Addison, of 
encouraging a man in absurdity, instead of endeavouring 
to extricate him." 

Mr. M 'Queen's answers to the inquiries concerning 
Ossian were so unsatisfactory, that I could not help ob- 
serving, that, were he examined in a court of justice, he 
would find himself under a necessity of being more ex- 
plicit. — Johnson. " Sir, he has told Blair a little too much, 
which is published ; and he sticks to it. He is so much 
at the head of things here, that he has never been ac- 
customed to be closely examined ; and so he goes on 
quite smoothly." — BosivelL " He has never had any 
body to work him." — Johnson. "No, sir; and a man 
is seldom disposed to work himself; though he ought to 
work himself, to be sure." — Mr. M'Queen made no 
reply.* 

Having talked of the strictness with which witnesses 
are examined in courts of justice. Dr. Johnson told us, 
that Garrick, though accustomed to face multitudes, 
when produced as a witness in Westminster-hall, was 
so disconcerted by a new mode of publick appearance, 
that he could not understand what was asked. It was 
a cause where an actor claimed a free benefit ; that is 
to say a benefit without paying the expence of the 
house; but the meaning of the term was disputed. 
Garrick was asked, " Sir, have you a free benefit ?" — 
" Yes." — " Upon what terms have you it ?" — " Upon 
— the terms — of — a free benefit." He was dismissed 
as one from whom no information could be obtained. — 

* I think it but justice to say, that I believe Dr. Johnson meant to ascribe Mr. 
M«Qiieen's conduct to inaccuracy and enthusiasm, and did not mean any severe 
imputation against him. 



230 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

Dr. Johnson is often too hard on our friend Mr. Gar- 
rick. When I asked him, why he did not mention 
him in the Preface to his Shakspeare, he said, " Gar- 
rick has been liberally paid for any thing he has done 
for Shakspeare. If I should praise him, I should much 
more praise the nation who paid him. He has not 
made Shakspeare better known ; he cannot illustrate 
Shakspeare : So I have reasons enough against men- 
tioning him, were reasons necessary. There should be 
reasons for it." — I spoke of Mrs. Montague's very 
high praises of Garrick. — Johnson. " Sir, it is lit she 
should say so much, and I should say nothing. Rey- 
nolds is fond of her book, and I wonder at it ; fo]- nei- 
ther I, nor Beauclerck, nor Mrs. Thrale, could get 
through it." 

Last night Dr. Johnson gave us an account of the 
whole process of tanning, — and of the nature of milk," 
and' the various operations upon it, as making whey, &c. 
His variety of information is surprizing ; and it gives 
one much satisfaction to find such a man bestowing his 
attention on the useful arts of life. Ulinish was much 
struck with his knowledge ; and, said, " He is a great 
orator, sir : it is musick to hear this man speak." — A" 
strange thought struck me, to try if he knew any thing 
of an art, or whatever it should be called, which is no 
doubt very useful in life, but which lies far out of the 
way of a philosopher and poet ; I mean the trade of a 
butcher. I enticed him into the subject, by connecting 
it with the various researches into the manners and cus- 
toms of uncivilized nations, that have been made by our 
late navigators into the South Seas. — I began with ob- 
serving, that Mr. (now Sir Joseph) Banks tells us, that 
the art of slaughtering animals was not known in Ota- 
heite, for, instead of bleeding to death their dogs, (a 



¥6 ^-HE HEBRIDES. 231 



common food with them,) they strangle them. This 
he told me himself; and I supposed that their hogs 
were killed in the same way. Dr. Johnson said, " This 
must be owing to their not having knives, — though they 
have sharp stones with which they can cut a carcase in 
pieces tolerably." By degrees, he shewed that he knew 
something even of butchery. " Different animals (said 
he) are killed differently. An ox is knocked down, and 
a calf stunned ; but a sheep has its throat cut, without 
any thing being done to stupify it. The butchers have 
no view to the ease of the animals, but only to make 
them quiet, for their own safety and convenience. A 
sheep can give them little trouble. — Hales is of opihion, 
that every animal should be blooded, without having 
any blow given to it, because it bleeds better." — Bos- 
well. " That would be cruel,^^— Johnson. " No, sir ; 
there is not much pain, if tlie jugular vein be properly 
cut." — Pursuing the subject, he said, the kennels of 
Southwark ran with blood two or three da} s in the 
week ; that he was afraid there were slaughter-houses 
in more streets in London than one supposes : (speak- 
ing with a kind of horrour of butchering ; ) and, yet 
he added, " any of us would kill a cow, rather than not 
have beef." — I said we could not. — " Yes, (said he,) 
any one may. The business of a butcher is a trade in- 
deed, that is to say, there is an apprenticeship served to 
it ; but it may be learnt in a month." 

I mentioned a club in London, at the Boar's Head 
in Eastcheap, the very tavern where Falstaff and his 
joyous companions met ; the members of which all as- 
sume Shakspeare's characters. One is Falstaff, another 
Prince Henry, another Bardolph, and so on. — Johnson. 
" Don't be of it, sir. Now that you have a name, you 
must be careful to avoid many things, not bad in them. 



« 



232 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

selves, but which will lessen your character.* This 
every man who has a name must observe. A man who 
is not publickly kno^vn may live in London as he pleases, 
without any notice being taken of him ; but it is wonder- 
ful how a person of any conseqence is watched. There 
was a member of parliament, who wanted to prepare 
himself to speak on a question that was to come on in 
the House ; and he and I were to talk it over together. 
He did not wish it should be known that he talked with 
me ; so he would not let me come to his house, but 
came to mine. Some time after he had made his speech 
in the house, Mrs. Cholmondeley, a very airy lady, told 
me, ' Well, you could make nothing of him !' naming 
the gentleman ; which was a proof that he was watched. 
— I had once some business to do for government, and 
I went to Lord North's. Precaution was taken that it 
should not be known. It was dark before I went ; yet 
a few days after I was told, ' Wf 11, you have been with 
Lord North.' That the door of the prime minister 
should be watched, is not strange ; but that a member 
of parliament should be watched, or that my door should 
be watched, is wonderful." 

We set out this morning on our way to Talisker, 
in Ulinish's boat, having taken leave of him and his fa- 
mily. Mr. Donald M'Queen still favoured us with his 
company, for which we were much obliged to him. As 
we sailed along Dr. Johnson got into one of his fits of 
railing at the Scots. He owned that they had been a 
very learned nation for a hundred years, from about 
1550 to about 1650 ; but that they afforded the only in- 

* I do not see why I might not have been cf this dub without leesening my 
character. But Dr. Johnson's caution against supposing one's self concealed in 
London, may be very useful to prevent some people from doing many things, not 
onlv foolish, but ciniiual. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 23.3 

Stance of a people among whom the arts of civil life did 
not advance in proportion with learning ; that they had 
hardly any trade, any money, or any elegance before the 
Union ; that it was strange that, with all the advanta- 
ges possessed by other nations, they had not any of 
those conveniencies and embellishments which are the 
fruit of industry, till they came in contact with a civi- 
lized people. We have taught you, (said he,) and 
we'll do the same in time to all barbarous nations, — to 
the Cherokees,— and at last to the Ourang-outangs ;" 
laughing with as much glee as if Monboddo had been 
present. — Boswell. " We had wine before the Union." 
— Johnson. "No, sir; you had some weak stuff, the 
refuse of France, which would not make you drunk." 
— Boswell, " I assure you, sir, there was a great deal 
of drunkenness." — Johnson. " No, sir ; there were 
people who died of dropsies, which they contracted in 
trying to get drunk." 

I must here glean some of his conversation at Uli- 
nish, which I have omitted. He repeated his remark, 
that a man in a ship was worse than a man in a jail. " The 
man in a jail, (said he,) has more room, better food, 
and commonly better company, and is in safety." — 
" Ay ; but, (said Mr. M'Queen,) the man in the ship 
has the pleasing hope of getting to shore." — Johnson. 
" Sir, I am not talking of a man's getting to shore ; 
but of a man while he is in a ship : and then, I say, he 
is worse than a man while he is in a jail. A man in 
a jail may have the *■ pleasing hope'' of getting out. A 
man confined for only a limited time, actually has it."- — 
M'Leod mentioned his schemes for carrying on fisheries 
with spirit, and that he would wish to understand the 
construction of boats. I suggested that he might go 
to a dock-yawl and work, as Peter the Great did. -^ 

H h 



234 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

Johnson. "Nay, sir, he need not work. Peter the 
Great had not the sense to see that the mere mechani- 
cal work may b^ done by any body, and that there is 
the same art in constructing a vessel, whether the 
boards are well or ill wrought. Sir Christopher Wren 
miQ-ht as well have served his time to a bricklaver, and 
first, indeed^ to a brick- maker,'" 

There is a beautiful little island- in the Loch of 
Dunvegan, called Isa. M'Leod said, he would give 
it to Dr. Johnson, on condition of his residing on it 
three months in the year ; nay one month. Dr. 
Johnson was highly amused with the fancy. I 
have seen him please himself with little things, even 
with mere ideas like the present. He talked a great 
deal of this island y — ^liow he would build a house there, 
— how he would fortify it, — how he would have can- 
non, — how he would plant, — how he would sally out, 
and take the isle of Muck ; — and then he laughed with 
uncommon glee, and could hardly leave off. I have 
seen him do so at a small matter that struck him, and 
was sport to no one else. Mr. Langton told me, that 
one night he did so while the company were all grave 
about him :— only Garrick, in his significant smart 
manner, darting his eyes around, exclaimed, " Very: 
jocose, to be sure !" — M'Leod encouraged the fancy 
of Dr. Johnson's becoming owner of an island ; told 
him, that it was the practice in this country to name 
every man by his lands ; and begged leave to drink to 
hhn in that mode : " Island Isa, you health !" Uiinish, 
Talisker, Mr. M'Queen, and I, all joined in our differ- 
ent manners, while Dr. Johnson bowed to each, with 
much good humour. 

We had good weather, and a fine sail this day. The 
shore was varied with hills, and rocks, and corn-fields, 



\0 THE HEBRIDES. 23 S 

^nd bushes, wliich are here dignified with the name of 

natural wood. We landed near the house of Fernely, 

a farm possessed by another gendeman of the name of 

M'Leod, who, expecting our arrival, was waiting on the 

shore, with a horse for Dr. Johnson. The rest of us 

walked. — At dinner, I expressed to M'Leod the joy 

which I had in seeiiTg him on such cordial terms with 

his clan. " Government (said he) has deprived us of 

dlir ancient power ; but it cannot deprive us of our do- 

mestick satisfactions. I would rather drink punch in 

one of their houses, (meaning the houses of his people) 

than be enabled by their hardships, to have claret in 

my own." — This should be the sentiment of every ',^ 

Chieftain. All that he can get by raising his rents, "^is 

more luxury in his own house. Is it not better to 

l^hare the profits of his estate, to a certain degree, with 

his kinsmen, and thus have both social intercourse and _^ 

patriarchal influence ? ,|fl 

We had a very good ride, for about three miles, to ^B 

Talisker, where Colonel M'Leod introduced us to his 
lady. We found here Mr. Donald McLean, the young 
Laird of Co/, (nephew to Talisker,) to whom I delivered 
the letter with which I had been favoured bv his uncle, 
Professor M'Leod, at Aberdeen. He was a little lively 
young man. We found he had been a good deal in 
England studying farming, and was resolved to im- 
prove the value of his father's lands, without op- 
pressing his tenants, or losing the ancient Highland 
fashions. 

Talisker is a better place than one commonly finds 
in Sky. It is situated in a rich bottom. Before it is a 
wide expanse of sea, on each hand of which are im- 
mense rocks ; and, at some distance in the sea, there are 
three columnal rocks rising to sharp points. The billows 



fir 



# 



236 JOURNAL OP A TOUR 

break with prodigious force and noise on the coast of 
Tahsker. There are here a good many well-grown 
trees. Tahsker is an extensive farm. The possessor 
of it has, for several generations, been the next heir to 
M'Leod, as there has been but one son always in that 
family. The court before the house is most injudiciously 
paved with the round blueish-grey pebbles which are 
found upon the sea- shore ; so that you walk as if upon 
cannon-balls driven into the ground. 

After supper, I talked of the assiduity of the Scot-' 
tish clergy, in visiting and privately instructing their 
parishioners, and observed how much in this they ex- 
celled the English clergy. Dr. Johnson would not let 
this pass. He tried to turn it off, by saying, " There 
are different ways of instructing. Our clergy pray and 
preach." — M'Leod and I pressed the subject, upon 
which he grew warm, and broke forth : " I do not be- 
lieve your people are better instructed. If they are, it 
is the blind leading the blind ; for your clergy are not 
instructed themselves." Thinking he had gone a little 
too far, he checked himself, and added, *' When I talk 
of the ignorance of your clergy, I talk of them as a 
body : I do not mean tliat there are not individuals who 
are learned (looking at Mr. M'Queen). I suppose there 
are such among the clergy in Muscovy. The clergy 
of England have produced the most valuable books in 
support of religion, both in theory and practice. What 
have your clergy done, since you sunk into presby^ 
terianism ? Can you name one book of any value, on 
a religious subject, wi'itten by them?"-^ — We were silent, 
= — " I'll help you. Forbes wrote very well j but I be- 
lieve he wrote before episcopacy w^as quite extin- 
guished."-— And then pausing a little, he said, " YeSj 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 237 

you have Wishart against Repentance."* — BoswelL 
" But, ^ir, we are not contending for the superior learn- 
ing of our clergy, but for their superior assiduity."— He 
bore us down again, with thundering against their igno- 
rance, and said to me, " I see you have not been well 
taught; for you have not charity." — He had been in 
some measure forced into this warmth, by the exulting 
air which I assumed ; for, when he began, he said,. 
" Since you will drive the nail 1" — He again thought of 
good Mr. M'Queen, and^ taking him by the hand, said, 
" Sir, I did not mean any disrespect to you." 

Here I must observe, that he conquered by desert- 
ing his ground, and not meeting the argument as I had 
put it. The assiduity of the Scottish clergy is certainly 
greater than that of the English. His taking up the 
llbpick of their not having so much learning, was, thougli 
ingenious, yet a fallacy in logic k. It was as if there 
should be a dispute whether a man's hair is well dres- 
sed, and Dr. Johnson should say, *' Sir, his hair cannot 
be well dressed ; for he has a dirty shirt. No man who 
has not clean linen has his hair well dressed." — When 
some days afterwards he read this passage, he said, "No, 
sir; I did not say that a man's hair could not be well 
dressed because he has not clean linen, but because he 
is bald." 

He used one argument against the Scottish clergy 
being learned, which 1 doubt was not good. " As we 
believe a man dead till we know that he is alive ; so we 
believe men ignorant till we know that they are learn- 

* This was a dextei'ous mode of description, fortlie purpose of liis argument ; 
ior what he alluded to was, a sermon published by the learned Dr. William 
Wishart, formerly principal of the college at Edinburgh, to warn men against con- 
fiding in a death-bed repentance, of the inefficacy of which he entertained notion^, 
very different from those of Dr. Johnson. 



# 



2^8 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

ed." Now our maxim in law is, m presume a man 
alive, till we know he is dead. However, indeed it may 
be answered, that we must first know he has lived ; and 
that we have never known tlie learning of the Scottish 
clergy. Mr. M'Queen, though he was of opinion that 
Dr. Johnson had deserted the point really in dispute, was 
much pleased with what he said, and owned to me, he 
thought it very just, and Mrs. M'Leod was so much cap- 
tivated by his eloquence, that she told me "I was a good 
advocate for a bad cause," 

Friday^ 24ith September. 

This was a good day. Dr. Johnson told us, at break- 
fast, that he rode harder at a fox-chace than any body. 
" The English (said he) are the only nation who ride 
hard a-hunting. A Frenchman goes out upon a manag- 
ed horse, and capers in the field, and no more thinks of 
leaping a hedge than of mounting a breach. Lord 
Powerscourt laid a wager, in France, that he would ride 
a great many miles in a certain short time. The French 
academicians set to work, and calculated that, from the 
resistance of the air, it was impossible. His lordship 
however performed it." 

Our money being nearly exhausted, we sent a bill 
for thirty pounds, drawn on Sir William Forbes and Co. 
to Lochbraccadale, but our messenger found it very dif- 
licult to procure cash for it ; at length, hoM^ever he got 
us value from the master of a vessel which was to carry 
away some emigrants. There is a great scarcity of 
specie in Sky. Mr. M'Queen, said he had the utmost 
difficulty to pay his servants' wages, or to pay for any 
little thing which he has to buy. The rents are paid in 
bills, which the drovers give. The people consume a 



. TO THE HEBRIDES. 23? 

vast deal of snufF and tobacco, for which they must pay 
ready money ; and pedlars, who come about selUng 
goods, as there is not a shop in the island, carry away 
the cash. If there were encouragement given to fisheries 
and manufactures, there might be a circulation of 
money introduced. I got one-and-twenty shillings in 
silver at Portree, which was thought a wonderful store.- 

Talisker, Mr. M'Queen, and I, walked out, and 
looked at no less than fifteen different water- falls near 
the house, in the space of about a quarter of a mile. We 
also saw Cuchullin's well, said to have been the fevourite 
spring of that ancient hero. I drank of it. The water 
is admirable. On the shore are many stones full of crys- 
tallizations in the heart. 

Though our obliging friend, Mr. M'Lean, was but 
djie young laird, he had the title of Col constantly given 
liim. After dinner he and I walked to the top of Priesh- 
well, a very high rocky hill, from whence there is a vi^w 
of Barra, — the Long Island, — Bernera, — the Loch of 
Dunvegan, — part of Rum — part of Rasa}', and a vast 
deal of the isle of Sky. Col, though he had come into 
Sky, with an intention to be at Dunvegan, and pass a 
considerable time in the island, most politely resolved 
first to conduct us to Mull, and then to return to Sky, 
This was a very fortunate circumstance ; for he planned 
an expedition for us of more variety than merely going 
to Mull, He proposed we should see the islands of 
Egg, Mucky Col, and Tyr-yi. In all these islands he 
could shew us every thing worth seeing ; and in Mull 
he said he should be as if at home, his father having 
lands there, and he a farm. 

Dr. Johnson did not talk much to-day, but seemed 
intent in listening to the'schemes of future excursion, 
planned by Col. Dr. Birch, however, being mentioned, 



» 



240 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

he said, he had more anecdotes than any man. I said, 
Percy had a great many ; that he flowed with them, 
hke one of the brooks here. — Johnson. " If Percy is 
like one of the brooks here, Birch Was like the river 
Thames. Birch excelled Percy in that, as much as 
Percy excels Goldsmith." — I mentioned Lord Hailes as 
a man of anecdote. He was not pleased with him, for 
publishing only such memorials and letters as were un- 
favourable for the Stuart family. " If, (said he,) a man 
fairly warns you, ' I am to give all the ill ; do you find 
the good;' he may : but if the object which he pro- 
fesses be to give a view of a reign, let him tell all the 
truth. I would tell truth of the two Georges, or of that 
scoundrel, king William. — Granger's Biographical His- 
tory is full of curious anecdote, but might have been 
better done. The dog is a Whig. I do not like much 
to see a Whig in any dress ; but I hate to see a Whig 
in a parson's gown." 

Saturday^ 25th September. 

It was resolved that we should set out, in order to 
return to Slate, to be in readiness to take boat^ whenever 
there should be a fair wind. Dr. Johnson remained in 
his chamber writing a letter, and it was long before we 
could get him into motion. He did not come to break- 
fast, but had it sent to him* When he had finished his 
letter, it was twelve o'clock, and we should have set out 
at ten. When I went up to him, he said to me, " Do 
jou remember a song which begins, 

" Every island is a prison 

"Strongly guarded by the sea ; 
" Kings and princes, for that reason. 

*' Prisoners are, as well as we." 



« 



TO THE HEBRIDES, 241 

I suppose he had been thinking of our confined situation. 
He would fain have gone in a boat from hence, instead 
of riding back to Slate. A scheme for it was proposed. 
He said, " We'll not be driven tamely from it :" — but 
it proved impracticable. 

We took leave of M'Leod and Talisker, from whom 
we parted with regret. Talisker, having been bred to 
physick, had a tincture of scholarship in his conversa- 
tion, which pleased Dr. Johnson, and he had some very 
good books ; and being a colonel in the Dutch service, 
he and his lady, in consequence of having lived abroad, 
had introduced the ease and politeness of the continent 
into this rude region. 

Young Col was now our leader. Mr. M'Queen 
was to accompany us half a day more. We stopped at 
a little hut, where we saw an old woman grinding with 
the quern^ the ancient Highlaed instrument, which it is 
said was used by the Romans, but which, being very 
slow in its operation, is almost entirely gone into disuse. 

The walls of the cottages in Sky, instead of being 
one compacted mass of stones, are often formed by two 
exterior surfaces of stone, filled up with earth in the 
middle, which makes them very warm. The roof is 
generally bad. They are thatched, sometimes with 
straw, sometimes with heath, sometimes with fern. 
The thatch is secured by ropes of straw, or of heath ; 
and, to fix the ropes, there is a stone tied to the end of 
each. These stones hang round the bottom of the roof, 
and make it look like a lady's hair in papers ; but I 
should think that, when there is wind, they would come 
down, and knock people on the head. 

We dined at the inn at Sconser, where I had the 
pleasure to find a letter from my wife. Here we parted 
from our learned companion, Mr. Donald M'Queen. 

I i . 



242 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

Dr. Johnson took leave of him very affectionately, say- 
ing, " Dear sir, do not forget me !"^ — We settled, that 
he should write an account Of the Isle of Sky, which Dr. 
Johnson promised to revise. He said, Mr. McQueen 
should tell all that he could ; distinguishing what he 
himself knew, what was traditional, and what conjec- 
tural. 

We sent our horses round a point of land, that wc 
might shun some very bad road ; and resolved to go for- 
ward by sea. It was seven o'clock when we got into 
our boat. We had many showers, and it soon grew 
pretty dark. Dr. Johnson sat silent and patient. Once 
he said, as he looked on the black coast of Sky, — black, 
as being composed of rocks seen in the dusk, — *' This 
is very solemn." Our boatmen were rude singers, and 
seemed so like wild Indians, that a very little imagina- 
tion was necessary to give one an impression of being 
upon an American river. We landed at StrolimuSy 
from whence we got a guide to walk before us, for two 
miles, to Corrichatachin. Not being able to procure a 
horse for our baggage, I took one portmanteau before 
me, and Joseph another. We had but a single star to 
light us on our way. It was about eleven when we ar- 
rived. We were most hospitably received by the mas- 
ter and mistress, who were just going to bed, but, with 
unaffected ready kindness, made a good fire, and at 
twelve o'clock at night had supper on the table. 

James Macdonald, of Knockotv Kingsburgh's bro- 
ther, whom we had seen at Kingsburgh, was there. He 
shewed me a bond granted by the late Sir James Mac- 
donald, to old Kingsburgh, the preamble of which does 
so much honour to the feelings of that much-lamented 
gentleman, that I thought it worth transcribing. It was 
as follows : 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 243 

" I, Sir James Macdonald, of Macdonald, Baronet, 
now, after arriving at my perfect age, from the friend- 
ship I bear to Alexander Macdonald of Kingsburgh, 
and in return for the long and faithful services done and 
performed by him to my deceased father, and to myself 
during my minority, when he was one of my Tutors and 
Curators ; being resolved, now that the said Alexander 
Macdonald is advanced in years, to contribute my en- 
deavours for making his old age placid and comfortable," 
— therefore he grants him an annuity of fifty pounds 
sterling. 

Dr. Johnson went to bed soon. When one bowl of 
punch was finished, I rose, and was near the door, in 
my way up stairs to bed ; but Corrichatachin said, it was 
the first time Col had been in his house, and he should 
have his bowl ; — and would not I join in drinking it ? 
The heartiness of my honest landlord, and the desire of 
doing social honour to our very obliging conductor, in- 
duced me to sit down again. GoVs bowl was finished ; 
and by that time we were well warmed. A third bowl 
was soon made, and that too was finished. We were 
cordial, and merry to a high degree ; but of what passed 
I have no recollection, with any accuracy. I remember 
calling Corrichatachin by the familiar appellation of Cor- 
ri, which his friends do. A fourth bowl was made, by 
which time Col, and young M'Kinnon, Corrichatachin's 
son, slipped away to bed. I continued a little with Corri 
and Knockow ; but at last I left them. It was near five 
in the morning when I got to bed. 

Sunday, 26th September. 

I awaked at noon, with a severe head-ach. I was 
much vexed that I should have been guilty of such a 



244 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

riist, iand afraid of a reproof from Dr. Johnson. I thought 
it very inconsistent with that conduct which I ought to 
maintain, while the companion of the Rambler. About 
one he came into my room, and accosted me, ^' What, 
drunk yet ?" — His tone of voice was not that of severe 
tij)braiding ; so I was reheved a little. — •' Sir, said I, 
they kept me up." — He answered, " No, you kept them 
up, you drunken dog." — This he said with good- 
humoured English pleasantry. Soon afterwards, CJor- 
richatachin. Col, and other friends, assembled round 
my bed. Corri had a brandy-bottle and glass with him, 
and insisted I should take a dram. — " Ay, said Dr. 
Johnson, fill him drunk again. Do it in the morning, 
that we may laugh at him, all day. It is a poor thing 
for a fellow to get drunk at night, and sculk to bed, and 
let his friends have no sport." — Finding him thus 
jocular, I became quite easy ; and when I offered to get 
up, he very good naturedly said, " You need be in no 
such hurry now." — I took my host's advice, and drank 
some brandy, which I found an effectual cure for my 
head-ach. When I rose, I went into Dr. Johnson's 
room, and taking up Mrs. M'Kinnon's Prayer-book, I 
opened it at the twentieth Sunday after Trinity, in the 
epistle for which I read, " And be not drunk with wine, 
wherein there is excess." Some would have taken this 
as a divine interposition. 

Mrs. M'Kinnon told us at dinner, that old Kings- 
burgh, her father, was examined at Mugstot, by General 
Campbell, as to the particulars of the dress of the person 
who had come to his house in woman's clothes, along 
with Miss Flora M "Donald; as the General had received 
intelligence of that disguise. The particulars were taken 
down in writing, that it might be seen how far they 
agreed with the dress of the Irish girl who went witli 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 245 

Miss Flora from the Long Island. Kingsburgh, she 
said, had but one song, which he always sung when he 
was merry over a glass. She dictated the words to me, 
which are foolish enough : 

Green sleeves and pudding pies, 
Tell me where my mistress lies. 
And I'll be with her before she rise, 
Fiddle and aw' together. 

May our affairs abroad succeed, 
And may our king come home with speed, 
Aud all pretenders shake for dread. 
And let his health go I'ound. 

To all our injured friends in need, 
This side and beyond the Tweed ! — 
Let all pretenders shake for dread, 
And let his health go round. 
Green sleeves, Sec. 

While the examination was going on, the present 
Talisker, who was there as one of M'Leod's militia, 
could not resist the pleasantry of asking Kingsburgh, 
in allusion to his only song, " Had she green sleeves ?" 
Kingsburgh gave him no answer. Lady Margaret 
M'Donald was very angry at Talisker for joking on 
such a serious occasion, as Kingsburgh was really in 
danger of his life. — Mrs. M'Kinnon added that Lady 
Margaret was quite adored in Sky. That when she 
travelled through the island, the people ran in crowds 
before her, and took the stones oif the road, lest her 
horse should stumble and she be hurt. Her husband, 
Sir Alexander, is also remembered with great regard. 
We were told that every week a hogshead of claret 
was drunk at his table. 

This was another day of wind and rain : but good 



246 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

cheer and good society helped to beguile the time. I 
felt mvself comfortable enousrh in the afternoon. I 
then thought that my last night's riot was no more than 
such a social excess as may happen without much mo- 
ral blame ; and recollected that some physicians main- 
tained that a fever produced by it was, upon the whole, 
good for health : so diiferent are our reflections on the 
same subject, at different periods ; and such the excuses 
with which we palliate what we know to be wrong. 

Monday^ '21th September, 

Mr. Donald M'Leod, our original guide, who had 
parted from us at Dunvegan, joined us again to-day. 
The weather was still so bad that we could not travel. 
I found a closet here, with a good many books, beside 
those that were lying about. Dr. Johnson told me, he 
found a library in his room at Talisker ; and observed, 
that it was one of the remarkable things of Sky, that 
there were so many books in it. 

Though we had here great abundance of provisions, 
it is remarkable that Corrichatachin has literally no gar- 
den : not even a turnip, a carrot or a cabbage. — After 
dinner, we talked of the crooked spade used in Sky, al- 
ready described, and they maintained that it was better 
than the usual garden-spade, and that there was an art 
in tossing it, by which those who were accustomed to 
it could work very easily with it. — " Nay, (said Dr. 
Johnson,) it may be useful in land where there are 
many stones to raise ; but it certainly is not a good in- 
strument for digging good land. A man may toss it, 
to be sure ; but he will toss a light spade much better : 
its weight makes it an incumbrance. A man may dig 
any land with it ; but he has no occasion for such a 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 247 

weight in digging good land. You may take a field- 
piece to shoot sparrows ; but all the sparrows you can 
bring home will not be worth the charge." — He was 
quite social and easy amongst them ; and, though he 
drank no fermented liquor, toasted Highland beauties 
with great readiness. His conviviality engaged them 
so much, that they seemed eager to shew their attention 
to him, and vied with each other in crying out, with a 
strong Celtick pronunciation, " Toctor Shonson, Toe- 
tor Shonson, your health !" 

This evening one of our married ladies, a lively 
pretty little woman, good-humouredly sat down upon 
Dr. Johnson's knee, and being encouraged by some 
of the company, put her hands round his neck, and 
kissed him. — " Do it again, (said he,) and let us see 
who will tire first." — He kept her on his knee some 
time, while he and she drank tea. He was now like a 
buck indeed. All the company were much entertained 
to find him so easy and pleasant. To me it was highly 
comick, to see the grave philosopher, — the Rambler, — 
toying with a Highland beauty ! — But what could he 
do ? He must have been surly, and weak too, had he 
not behaved as he did. He would have been laughed 
at, and not more respected, though less loved. 

He read to-night, to himself, as he sat in company, a 
great deal of my Journal, and said to me, " The more 
I read of this, I think the more highly of you." — The 
gentlemen sat a long time at their punch, after he and I 
had retired to our chambers. The manner in which 
they were attended struck me as singular : — The bell 
being broken, a smart lad lay on a table in the corner of 
the room, ready to spring up and bring the kettle, when- 
ever it was wanted. They continued drinking, and sing- 
ing Erse songs, till near five in the morning, when they 



248 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

all came into my room, where some of them had beds. 
Unluckily for me, they found a bottle of punch jn a 
corner, which they drank ; and Corrichatachin went for 
another, which they also drank. They made many 
apologies for disturbing me. I told them, that, having 
been kept awake by their mirth, I had once thoughts of 
getting up and joining them again. Honest Corricha- 
tachin said, " To have had you done so, I would have 
given a cow," 

Tuesday, 28th September. 

The weather was worse than yesterday. I felt as if 
imprisoned. Dr. Johnson said, it was irksome to be 
detained thus : yet he seemed to have less uneasiness, 
or more patience, than I had. What made our situation 
worse here was, that we had no rooms that we could 
command : for the good people had no notion that a man 
could have any occasion but for a mere sleeping- place ; 
so, during the day, the bed-chambers were common to 
all the house. Servants eat in Dr. Johnson's ; and mine 
Was a kind of general rendezvous of all under the roof, 
children and dogs not excepted. As the gentlemen 
occupied the parlour, the ladies had no place to sit in, 
during the day, but Dr. Johnson's room. I had always 
some quiet time for writing in it, before he was up ; 
and, by degrees, I accustomed the ladies to let me sit 
in it after breakfast, at my Journal without minding me. 

Dr. Johnson was this morning for going to see as 
many islands as we could ; not recollecting the uncer- 
tainty of the season, which might detain us in one place 
for many weeks. He said to me, " I have more the 
spirit of adventure than you." — For my part, I was 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 249 

anxious to get to Mull, from whence we might almost 
any day reach the main land. 

Dr. Johnson mentioned, that the few ancient Irish 
gentlemen yet remaining have the highest pride of 
family ; that Mr. Sandford, a friend of his, whose mother 
was Irish, told him, that O'Hara (who was true Irish, 
both by father and mother) and he, and Mr. Ponsonby, 
son to the Earlof Besborough, the greatest man of the 
three, but of an English family, went to see one of 
those ancient Irish, and that he distinguished them 
thus : " O'Hara, you are welcome ! Mr. Sandford, your 
mother's son, is welcome ! Mr. Ponsonby, you may sit 
down." 

He talked both of threshing and thatching. He 
said it was difficult to determine how to agree with a 
thresher. " If you pay him by the day's wages, he will 
thresh no more than he pleases ; though, to be sure, the 
negligence of the thresher is more easily detected than 
that of most labourers, because he must always make a 
sound while he works. If you pay him by the piece, by 
the quantity of grain which he produces, he will thresh 
only while the grain comes freely, and, though he leaves 
a good deal in the ear, it is not worth while to thresh 
the straw over again ; nor can you fix him to do it suf- 
ficiently, because it is so difficult to prove how much less 
a man threshes than he ought to do. Here then is a 
dilemma : but, for my part, I would engage him by the 
day ; I would rather trust his idleness than his fraud." 
He said, a roof thatched with Lincolnshire reeds would 
last seventy years, as he was informed when in that 
county ; and that he told this to a great thatcher in Lon- 
don, who said, he believed it might be true. — Such are 
the pains that Dr. Johnson takes to get the best informa- 
tion on every subject. 

Kk 



250 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

He proceeded : " It is difficult for a farmer in Eng,* 
land to find day-labourers, because the lowest manufac- 
turers can always get more than a day-labourer. It i^ 
of no consequence how high the wages of manufac- 
turers are ; but it would be of very bad consequence to 
raise the wages of those who procure the immediate ne- 
cessaries of life, for that would raise the price of provi- 
sions. Here then is a problem for politicians. It is not 
reasonable that the most useful body of men should be 
the worst paid ; yet it does not appear how it can be 
ordered otherwise. It were to be wished, that a mode 
for its being otherwise were found out. In the mean 
time, it is better to give temporary assistance by chari- 
table contributions to poor labourers, at times when 
provisions are high, than to raise their wages; because, 
if wages are once raised, they will never get down 
again." 

Happily the weather cleared up between one and 
two o'clock, and we got ready to depart ; but our kind 
host and hostess would not let us go without taking a 
snatch, as they called it ; which was in truth a very good 
dinner. While the punch went round. Dr. Johnson 
kept a close whispering conference with Mrs. M'Kin- 
non, which, however, was loud enough to let us hear 
that the subject of it was the particulars of Prince 
Charles's escape. The company were entertained and 
pleased to observe it. Upon that subject, there was 
something congenial between the soul of Dr. Samuel 
Johnson and that of an Isle of Sky farmer's wife. It is 
curious to see people, how far so ever removed from. 
each other in the general system of their lives, come 
close together on a particular point which is common to 
each. We were merry with Corrichatachin, on Dr. 
Johnson's whispering with his v»dfe. She, perceiving 



f§ THE HEBRIDES. 25} 

this, humourously cried, "I am in love with him. 
What is it to live and not to love ?" Upon her saying 
something, which I did not hear, or cannot recollect, he 
seized her hand eagerly, and kissed it. 

As we were going, the Scottish phrase of *' honest 
manP'* which is an expression of kindness and regard, 
was again and again applied by the company to Dr. 
Johnson. I was also treated with much civility ; and 
I must take some merit from my assiduous attention to 
him, and from my contriving that he shall be easy 
wherever he goes, that he shall not be asked twice to 
eat or drink any thing, (which always disgusts him,) 
that he shall be provided with water at his meals, and 
many such little things which if not attended to would 
fret him. I also may be allowed to claim some merit 
in leading the conversation : I do not mean leading, as 
in an orchestra, by playing the first fiddle ; but leading 
as one does in examining a witness, — starting topics, 
aind making him pursue them. He appears to me like 
a great mill, into which a subject is thrown to be ground. 
It requires, indeed, fertile minds to furnish materials 
for this mill. I regret whenever I see it unemployed ; 
but sometimes I feel myself quite barren, and having 
nothing to throw in. — I know not if this mill be a good 
figure ; though Pope makes his mind a mill for turning 
verses. 

We set out about four. Young Corrichatachin 
went with us. We had a fine evening, and arrived in 
good time at Ostig, the residence of Mr. Martin M'Pher- 
son, minister of Slate. It is a pretty good house, built 
by his father, upon a farm near the church. We were 
received here with much kindness by Mr. and Mrs. 
M'Pherson, and his sister, Miss M'Pherson, who pleas- 
ed Dr. Johnson much, by singing Erse songs, and play. 



252 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

ing on the guittar. He afterwards sent her a present of 
hii Rasselas. In his bedchamber was a press stored 
with books, Greek, Latin, French, and English, most 
of which had belonged to the father of our host, the 
learned Dr. M'Pherson ; who, though his Dissertations 
have been mentioned in a former page as unsatisfactory, 
was a man of distinguished talents. Dr. Johnson look- 
ed at a Latin paraphrase of the song of Moses, written 
by him, and published in the Scots Magazine ior 1747, 
and said, " It does him honour ; he has a great deal of 
Latin, and good Latin.*' — Dr. M'Pherson published 
also in the same magazine, June 1739, an original Latin 
ode, which he wrote from the isle of Barra, where he 
was minister for some years. It is very poetical, and 
exhibits a striking proof how much all things depend 
upon comparison : for Barra, it seems, appeared to him 
so much worse than Sky, his natale solum^ that he lan- 
guished for its " blessed mountains," and thought him- 
self buried alive amongst barbarians where he was.-^ 
My readers will probably not be displeased to have a 
specimen of this ode : 

" Hei mihi ! quantos patior dolores, 
" Duin procul specto juga ter beata ; 
" Dum ferae Ban ae steriles arenas 
" Solus oberro. 

" Ingemo, indignor, crucior, quod inter 
" Barbaros Thulen lateam colentes ; 
" Torpeo languens, morior sepultus, 
" Carcere coeco." 

After wishing for wings to fly over to his dear court- 
try, which was in his view, from what he calls Thule, 
as being the most western isle of Scotland, except St 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 253 

Kilda ; after describing the pleasures of society, and the 
miseries of solitude, he at last, with becoming propriety, 
has recourse to the only sure relief of thinking men,— 
Sursum corda^ — the hope of a better world, and dis- 
poses his mind to resignation : 

" Interim fiat, tua, rex, voluntas : 
" Erigor sursum quoties subit spes 
" Carta mi^randi Solymam supernam, 
" Numinis aulam." 

He concludes in a noble strain of orthodox piety : 

" Vita turn demum vocitanda vita est, 
" Turn licet gratos socios habere, 
" Seraphim et sanctos triaoem verendam 
" Concelebrantes." 

Wednesday^ 29th September* 

After a very good sleep, I rose more refreshed than 
I had been for some nights. We were now at but a 
little distance from the shore, and saw the sea from our 
windows, which made our voyage seem nearer. Mr. 
M'Pherson's manners and address pleased us much. 
He appeared to be a man of such intelligence and taste 
as to be sensible of the extraordinary powers of his illus- 
trious guest. He said to me, " Dr. Johnson is an ho- 
nour to mankind ; and, if the expression may be used, 
is an honour to religion." 

Col, who had gone yesterday to pay a visit at Camus- 
cross, joined us this morning at breakfast. Some other 
gentlemen also came to enjoy the entertainment of Dr. 
JohnsQji^s conversation. — The day was windy and rainy, 
SQ diat we had just seized a happy interval for our jour- 



254 JOURNAL OF A TOUR ^ 

ney last night. We had good entertainment here, bet- 
ter accommodation than at Corrichatachin, and time 
enough to ourselves. The hours slipped along imper- 
ceptibly. We talked of Shenstone. Dr. Johnson said, 
he was a good layer-out of land, but would not allow 
him to approach excellence as a poet. He said he be- 
lieved he had tried to read all his Love Pastorals, but 
did not get through them. I repeated the stanza, 

She gazed as I slowly withdrew ; 

My path I could hardly discern ; 
So sweetly she bade me adieu, 

I thought that she bade me return. 

He said, " that seems to be pretty." I observed that 
Shenstone, from his short maxims in prose, appeared to 
have some power of thinking ; but Dr. Johnson would 
not allow him that merit. He agreed, however, with 
Shenstone, that it was wrong in the brother of one of 
his correspondents to burn his letters ; " for, said he, 
Shenstone was a man whose correspondence was an 
honour." — He was this afternoon full of critical severi- 
ty, and dealt about his censures on all sides. He said, 
Hammond's Love Elegies were poor things. He spoke 
contemptuously of our lively and elegant, though too 
licentious, Lyrick bard, Hanbury Williams, and said, 
" he had no fame, but from boys who drank with him." 
While he was in this mood, I was unfortunate 
enough, simply perhaps, but I could not help thinking, 
undeservedly, to come within " the whiff and wind of 
his fell sword." I asked him, if he had ever been ac- 
customed to wear a night-cap. He said " No." I 
asked, if it was best not to wear one. — Johnson. *' Sir, 
I had this custom by chance, and perhaps no man shall 
ever know whether it is best to sleep with or without a 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 255 

night-cap." — Soon afterwards he was laughing at some 
deficiency in the Highlands, and said, " One might as 
well go without shoes and stockings." — Thinking to 
have a little hit at his own deficiency, I ventured to add, 
— " or without a night-cap sir." But I had better 
have been silent ; for he retorted directly. " I do not 
see the connection there (laughing.) Nobody before 
was ever foolish enough to ask whether it was best to 
wear a night-cap or not. This comes of being a little 
wrong-headed." — He carried the company along with 
him : and yet the truth is, that if he had always worn a 
night-cap, as is the common practice, and found the 
Highlanders did not wear one, he would have wondered 
at their barbarity ; so that my hit was fair enough. 

Thursday^ 30th September. 

There was as great a storm of wind and rain as I 
have almost ever seen, which necessarily confined us 
to the house ; but we were fully compensated by Dr. 
Johnson's conversation. He said, he did not grudge 
Burke's being the first man in the House of Commons, 
for he was the first man every where ; but he grudged 
that a fellow who makes no figure in company, and has 
a mind as narrow as the neck of a vinegar cruet, should 
make a figure in the House of Commons, merely by 
having the knowledge of a few forms, and being furnish- 
ed with a little occasional information.* He told us, the 
first time he saw Dr. Young was at the house of Mr. 
Richardson, the author of Clarissa. He was sent for, 
that the doctor might read to him his Conjectures on 

* He did not mention the name of any particular person ; but those who are 
conversant with the political world will probably recollect more persons than one 
to whom this observation may be applied. 



256 JOURNAL OF A TOUR ^^ 

original Composition, which he did, and Dr. Johnson 
made his remarks ; and he was surprised to find Young 
receive as novelties what he thought very common 
maxims. He said he believed Young was not a great 
scholar, nor had studied regularly the art of writing ; 
that there were very fine things in his Night Thoughts, 
though you could not find twenty lines together without 
some extravagance. He repeated two passages from his 
JLofve of Fame, — the characters of Brunetta and Stella, 
which he praised highly. He said Young pressed him 
much to come to Wellwyn. He always intended it ; 
but never went. He was sorry when Young died. The 
cause of quarrel between Young and his son, he told 
us, was, that his son insisted Young should turn away 
a clergyman's widow, who lived with him, and who, 
having acquired great influence over the father, was 
saucy to the son. Dr. Johnson said, she could not con- 
ceal her resentment at him, for saying to Young, that 
" an old man should not resign himself to the manage- 
ment of any body." — I asked him, if there was any im- 
proper connection between them. — " No, sir, no more 
than between two statues. — He was past fourscore, and 
she a very coarse woman. She read to him, and, I 
suppose, made his coflfee, and frothed his chocolate, and 
did such things as an old man wishes to have done for 
him." 

Dr. Dodridge being mentioned, he observed that 
" he was authour of one of the finest epigrams in the 
English language. It is in Orton's Life of him. The 
subject is his family-motto, — Dum vivimus, vivamus ; 
which, in its primary signification, is, to be sure, not 
very suitable to a christian divine : but he paraphrased it 
thus:" 



TO THE HEBRIDES; 257 

" Live, while you live, the epicure would say, 
" And seize the pleasures of the present day. 
" Live, while you live, the sacred /jrcacAer cries, 
" And give to God each moment as it flies. 
" Lord, in my views let both united be ; 
" I live in pleasure^ when I live to thee." 

I asked if it was not strange that government should 
permit so many infidel writings to pass without censure. 
— Johnson. " Sir, it is mighty foolish. It is for want 
of knowing their own power. The present family on 
the throne came to the crown against the will of nine 
tenths of the people. Whether those nine tenths were 
right or wrong, it is not our business now to inquire. 
But such being the situation of the Royal family, they 
were glad to encourage all who would be their friends. 
Now you know every bad man is a Whig ; every man 
who has loose notions. The church was all against this 
family. They were, as I say, glad to encourage any 
friends ; and therefore, since their accession, there is no 
instance of any man being kept back on account of his 
bad principles ; and hence this inundation of impiety.'' 
I observed that Mr. Hume, some of whose writings 
were very unfavourable to religion, was, however, a 
Tory. — Johnson. *' Sir, Hume is a Tory by chance, 
as being a Scotchman ; but not upon a principle of du- 
ty ; for he has no principle. If he is any thing, he is a 
Hobbist." 

There was something not quite serene in his humour 
to-night, after supper; for he spoke of hastening away 
to London, without stopping much at Edinburgh. I 
reminded him, that he had General Oughton and many 
others to see. — Johnson. " Nay, I shall neither go in 
jest, nor stay in jest. I shall do what is fit." — Boswell. 
" Ay, sir, but all I desire is, that you will let me tell 

l1 



258 JOURNAL OF A TOUR ^ 

you when it is fit." — Johnson, " Sir, I shall not consult 
you." — Boswell. " If yotl are to run away from us, as 
soon as you get loose, we will keep you confined in an 
island." — He was however, on the whole, very good 
company. Mr. Donald M'Leod expressed very well 
the gradual impression made by Dr. Johnson on those 
who are so fortunate as to obtain his acquaintance. 
" When you see him first you are struck with awful 
reverence ; — then you admire him ; — and then you love 
him cordially." 

I read this evening some part of Voltaire's History 
of the War in 1741, and of Lord Karnes against Here- 
ditary Indefeasible Right. This is a very slight circum- 
stance, with which I should not trouble my reader, but 
for the sake of observing, that every man should keep 
minutes of whatever he reads. Every circumstance of 
his studies should be recorded; what books he has con- 
sulted ; how much of them he has read ; at what times ; 
hoM^ often the same authors ; and what opinions he form- 
ed of them, at different periods of his life. — Such an 
account would much illustrate the history of his mind. 

Friday, \st October. 

I shewed to Dr. Johnson verses in a magazine, on 
his Dictionary, composed of uncommon words taken 
from it ; 

" little of Jnthr allopathy has he," See. 

He read a few of them, and said, " I am not ans^verablc 
for all the words in my Dictionary." — I told him, that 
Garriek kept a book of all who had either praised or 
abused liim. — On the subject of liis own reputation, he 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 259 

said,. " Now that I see it has been so current a topick, 
I wish I had done so too ; but it could not well be done 
now, as so many things are scattered in news-papers." — 
He said, he was angry at a boy of Oxford, who wrote 
in his defence against Kenrick ; because it wasr doing 
him hurt to answer Kenrick. He was toW afterwards, 
the boy was to come to him to ask a favour. He first 
thought to treat him rudely, on account of his meddling 
in that business ; but then he considered, he had meant 
to do him all the service in his power, and he took ano- 
ther resolution ; he told him he would do what he could 
for him, and did so ; and the boy was satisfied. He 
said, he not know how his pamphlet was done, as he 
had read very little of it. The boy made a good 
figure at Oxford, but died. He remarked, that attacks 
on authours did them much service. " A man who tells 
me my play is very bad, is less my enemy than he 
who lets it die in silence. A man, whose business it is 
to be talked of, is much helped by being attacked." — - 
Garrick, I observed, had been often so helped. — John- 
son. "Yes, sir; though Garrick had more opportu- 
nities than almost any man, to keep the publick in mind 
of him, by exhibiting himself to such numbers, he would 
not have had so much reputation, had he not been so 
much attacked. Every attack produces a defence ; and 
so attention is engaged. There is no sport in mere 
praisfs, when people are all of a mind." — Bosxvell. 
" Then Hume is not the worse for Beattie's attack ?" — 
Johnson, " He is, because Beattie has confuted him. I 
do not say, but that there may be some attacks which 
will hurt an authour. Though Hume suffered from Beat- 
tie, he was the better for other attacks." (He certainly 
could not includeinthatnumberthoseof Dr. Adams, and 
Mr. Tytler.) — BoswelL " Goldsmith is the better for 



260 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

attacks." — Johnson. " Yes, sir ; but he does not think 
so yet. When Goldsmith and I published, each of us 
something, at the same time, we were given to under- 
stand that we might review each other. Goldsmith 
was for accepting the offer. I said. No ; set Reviewers 
at defiance.— *It was said to old Bentley, upon the at- 
I tacks against him, 'Why, they'll write you down,' 
"J No, sir, he rephed ; depend upon it, no man was ever 
«^ written down but by himself." He observed to me 
afterwards, that the advantages authours derived from 
attacks, were chiefly in subjects of taste, where you can- 
not confute, as so much may be said on either side. — » 
He told me he did not know who was the authour of the 
Adventures of a Guinea^ but that the bookseller had 
sent the first volume to him in manuscript, to have his 
opinion if it should be printed; and he thought it 
should. 

The weather being now somewhat better, Mr. James 
M'Donald, factor to Sir Alexander M 'Donald in Slate, 
insisted that all the company at Ostig should go to the 
house at Armidale, which Sir Alexander had left, having 
gone with his lady to Edinburgh, and be, his guests, till 
we had an opportunity of sailing to Mull. We accord- 
ingly got there to dinner ; and passed our day very 
cheerfully, being no less than fourteen in number. 

Saturday^ 2d October. 

Dr. Johnson said, that "a Chief and his Lady should 
make their house like a court. They should have a 
certain number of the gentlemen's daughters to receive 
their education in the family, to learn pastry and such 
things from the housekeeper, and manners from my 
lady. That was the way in the great families in Wales ^ 



TO THE HEBRIDES, 261 

at Lady Salisbury's, Mrs. Thrale's grandmother, and 
at Lady Philips's. I distinguish the families by the 
ladies, as I speak of what was properly their province. 
There were always six young ladies at Sir John Philips's : 
when one was married, her place was filled up. There 
Vv-as a large school-room, where they learnt needle work 
and other things."—- .lobserved, that, at some courts in 
Germany, there were academies for the pages, who are 
the sons of gentlemen, and receive their education v/ith- 
out any expense to their parents. Dr. Johnson said, 
that manners were best learnt at those courts. " You 
are admitted with great facility to the prince's company, 
and yet must treat him with much respect. At a great 
court, you are at such a distance that you get no good." 
— 1 said, " Very true : a man sees the court of Ver^ 
sailles, as if he saw it on a theatre." — He said, " The 
best book that ever was written upon good-breeding, 
// Corteggiano, by Castiglione, grew up at the little 
court of Urbino, and j^ou should read it." — I am glad 
always to have his opinion of books. At Mr. M'Pher- 
son's, he commended TVhitby''s Commentary^ and said, 
he had heard him called rather lax ; but he not perceive 
it. He had looked at a novel, called The Man of the 
Worlds at Rasay, but thought there was nothing in it. 
He said to-day, while reading my Journal, " This will 
be a great treasure to us some years hence." 

Talking of a very penurious gentleman of our ac- 
quaintance, he observed, that he exceeded L'Avare in 
the play. I concurred with him, and remarked that he 
would do well, if introduced in one of Foote's farces ; 
that th,e best way to get it done, would be to bring 
Foote to be entertained at his house for a week, and then 
it would he Jack indignatio.— Johnson. *' Sir, I wish he 
had him. I, who have eaten his bread, will not eive 



'"■^ 



£62 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

him to him ; but I should be glad he came honestly by 
him." 

He said, he was angry at Thrale, for sitting at Gene^ 
ral Oglethorpe's without speaking. He censured a man 
for degrading himself to a non-entity. I observed, that 
Goldsmith was on the other extreme ; for he spoke at 
all ventures. — Johnson, " Yes, sir ; Goldsmith, rather 
than not speak, will talk of what he knows himself to be 
ignorant, which can only end in exposing him." — "I 
wonder (said I,) if he feels that he exposes himself. If 
he was with two taylors" — " Or with two founders, 
(said Dr. Johnson interrupting me,) he would fall a talk- 
ing on the method of making cannon, though both of 
them would soon sec that he did not know what metal 
a cannon is made of." — We were very social and merry 
in his room this forenoon. In the evening the company 
danced as usual. We performed, with much activity, 
a dance which, I suppose, the emigration from Sky has 
occasioned. They call it Amei'ica. Each of the cou- 
ples, after the common involutions and evolutions, suc- 
cessively whirls round in a circle, till all are in motion i 
and the dance seems intended to shew how emigration 
catches, till a whole neighbourhood is set afloat. — Mrs. 
M'Kinnon told me, that last year when a ship sailed 
from Portree for America, the people on shore were al- 
most distracted when they saw their relations go off; 
they lay down on the ground, tumbled, and tore the 
grass with their teeth. — This year there was not a tear 
shed. The people on shore seemed to think that they 
would soon follow. This indifference is a mortal sign 
for the country. 

W^e danced to-night to the musick of the bagpipe, 
which made us beat the ground with prodigious force. 
I thought it better to endeavour to conciliate the kind- 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 263 

ness of the people of Sky, by joining heartil}'^ in their 
amusements, than to play the abstract scholar. I lookea'v 
on this Tour to the Hebrides as a copartnership be- 
tween Dr. Johnson and me. Each was to do all he 1 
could to promote its success ; and I have some reason 
to flatter myself, that my gayer exertions were of ser- 
vice to us. Dr. Johnson's immense fund of knowledge^ 
and wit was a wonderful source of admiration and de- 
light to them ; but they had it only at times ; and they 
required to have the intervals agreeably filled up, and 
even little elucidations of his learned text. I was also 
fortunate enough frequently to draw him forth to talk, 
when he would otherwise have been silent. The foun- 
tain was at times locked up, till I opened the spring. — 
It was curious to hear the Hebredians, when any dis- 
pute happened while he was out of the room, saying, 
" Stay till Dr. Johnson comes : say that to him /" 

Yesterday Dr. Johnson said, " I cannot but laugh, 
to think of myself roving among the Hebrides at sixty. 
I wonder where I shall rove at fourscourse !" — This 
evening he disputed the truth of what is said, as to the 
people of St. Kilda catching cold whenever strangers 
come. " How can there (said he) be a physical effect 
without a physical cause ?" — He added, laughing, " the 
arrival of a ship full of strangers would kill them ; for, 
if one stranger gives them one cold, two strangers must 
give them two colds ; and so in proportion." — I won- 
dered to hear him ridicule this, as he had praised M' Au- 
lay for putting it in his book : saying, that it was manly 
in him to tell a fact, however strange, if he himself be- 
lieved it. He said, the' evidence was not adequate to 
the improbability of the thing ; that if a physician, rather 
disposed to be incredulous, should go to St. Kilda, and 
report the fact, then he would begin to look about him. 



264 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

They said, it was annually proved by M'Leod's stew- 
ard, on whose arrival all the inhabitants caught cold. 
He jocularly remarked, " the steward always comes to 
demand something from them ; and so they fall a cough- 
ing. I suppose the people in Sky all take a cold, when 

(naming a certain person) comes."— They said, 

he came only in summer. — Johnson. " That is out of 
tenderness to you. Bad weather and he, at the same 
time, would be too much." 

Sunday, 3d October. 

Joseph reported that the wind was still against us, 
Dr. Johnson said, " A wind, or not a wind ? that is the 
question ;" for he can amuse himself at times with a 
little play of words, or rather sentences. I remember 
when he turned his cup at Aberbrothick, where we 
drank tea, he muttered, Claudite jam vivos, pueri, I 
must again and again apologize to fastidious readers, 
for recording such minute particulars. They prove the 
scrupulous fidelity of my Journal. Dr. Johnson said it 
was a very exact picture of a portion of his life. 

While we v/ere chatting in the indolent stile of men 
who were to stay here all this day at least, we were 
suddenly roused at being told that the wind was fair, 
that a little fleet of herring-busses was passing by for 
Mull, and that Mr. Simpson's vessel was about to sail. 
Hugh M'Donald, the skipper, came to us, and was im- 
patient that we should get ready, which we soon did. 
Dr. Johnson, with composure and solemnity, repeated 
the observation of Epictetus, that, " as man has the 
voyage of death before him, — whatever may be his em- 
ployment, he should be ready at the master's call ; and 
an old man should never be far from the shore, lest he 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 265 

should not be able to get himself ready." He rode, and 
I and the other gentlemen walked, about an English 
mile to the shore, where the vessel lay. Dr. Johnson 
said, he should never forget Sky, and returned thanks 
for all civilities. We were carried to the vessel in a 
small boat which she had, and we set sail very briskly 
about one o'clock. I was much pleased with the mo- 
tion for many hours. Dr. Johnson grew sick, and re- 
tired under cover, as it rained a good deal. I kept 
above, that I might have fresh air, and finding myself 
not aifected by the motion of the vessel, I exulted in 
being a stout seaman, while Dr. Johnson was quite in 
a state of annihilation. But I was soon humbled ; for 
after imagining that I could go with ease to America 
or the East-Indies, I became very sick, but kept above 
board, though it rained hard. 

As we had been detained so long in Sky by bad 
weather, we gave up the scheme that Col had planned 
for us of visiting several islands, and contented our- 
selves with the prospect of seeing Mull, and Icolmkill, 
and Inchkenneth, which lie near to it. 

Mr. Simpson was sanguine in his hopes for a while, 
the wind being fair for us. He said, he would land us 
at Icolmkill that night. But when the wind failed, it 
was resolved we should make for the sound of Mull, 
and land in the harbour of Tobermorie. We kept 
near the five herring vessels for some time ; but after- 
wards four of them got before us, and one little wherry 
fell behind us. When we got in full view of the point 
of Ardnamurchan, the wind changed, and was directly 
against our getting into the sound. We were then 
obliged to tack, and get forward in that tedious man- 
ner. As we advanced, the storm grew greater, and 
the sea very rough. Col then began to talk of making 

M m 



266 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

for Egg, or Canna, or his own island. Our skipper 
said, he would get us into the Sound. Having strug- 
gled for this a good while in vain, he said, he would 
push forward till we were near the land of Mull, where 
we might cast anchor, and lie till the morning ; for al- 
though, before this, there had been a good moon, and 
I had pretty distinctly seen not only the land of Mull, 
but up the Sound, and the country of Morven as at one 
end of it, the night was now gro^vn very dark. Our 
crew consisted of one M'Donald, our skipper, and two 
sailors, one of whom had but one eye : Mr. Simpson 
himself, Col, and Hugh M'Donald his servant, all 
helped. Simpson said, he would willingly go for Col, if 
young Col or his servant would undertake to pilot us 
to a harbour ; but, as the island is low land, it was 
dangerous to run upon it in the dark. Col and his ser- 
vant appeared a little dubious. The scheme of running 
for Canna seemed then to be embraced ; but Canna 
was ten leagues off, all out of our way ; and they were 
afraid to attempt the harbour of Egg. All these diffe- 
rent plans were successively in agitation. The old 
skipper still tried to make for the land of Mull ; but 
then it was considered that there was no place there 
where we could anchor in safeiy. Much time A\^as lost 
in striving against the storm. x\t last it became so 
rough, and threatened to be so much worse, that Col and 
his servant took more courage, and said thev would un- 
dertake to hit one of the harbours in Col. — " Then let 
us run for it in God's name," said the skipper; and 
instantly we turned toAvards it. The little wheiTy 
Tvhich had fallen behind us, had hard work. I'he mas- 
ter begged that, if we made for Col, we should put out 
a light to him. Accordingly one of the sailors waved 
a glowing peat for some time. The various difficulties 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 267 

that were started, gave me a good deal of apprehension 
from which I was reheved, when I found we were to 
run for a harbour before the wind. But my relief was 
but of short duration ; for I soon heard that our sails 
were very bad, and were in danger of being torn in 
pieces, in which case we should be driven upon the 
rocky shore of Col. It was very dark, and there was 
a heavy and incessant rain. The sparks of the burn- 
ing peat flew so much about, that I dreaded the vessel 
might take fire. Then, as Col was a sportsman, and 
had powder on board, I figured that we might be blown 
up. Simpson and he appeared a little frightened, which 
made me more so ; and the perpetual talking, or rather 
shouting, which was carried on in Erse alarmed me 
still more. A man is always suspicious of what is say- 
ing in an unknown tongue ; and, if fear be his passion 
at the time, he grows more afraid. Our vessel often 
lay so much on one side, that I trembled lest she should 
be overset, and indeed they told me afterwards, that 
they had run her sometimes to within an inch of the 
water, so anxious \vere they to make what haste they 
could before the night should be worse. I now saw, 
what I never saw before, a prodigious sea, with im- 
mense billows coming upon a vessel, so as that it seem- 
ed hardly possible to escape. There was something 
grandly horrible in the sight. I am glad I have seen it 
once. Amidst all these terrifying circumstances, I en- 
deavoured to compose my mind. It was not easy to do 
it; for all the stories that I had heard of the dangerous 
sailing among the Hebrides, which is proverbial, came 
full upon my recollection. When I thought of those 
who were dearest to me, and would suffer severely, 
should I be lost, I upbraided myself, as not having a 



^68 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

sufficient cause for putting myself in such danger. 
Piety afforded me comfort ; yet I was disturbed by the 
objections that have been made against a particular pro- 
vidence, and by the arguments of those who maintain 
that it is in vain to hope that the petitions of an individual 
or even of conffreo-ations, can have anv influence with 
the Deity ; objections which have been often made, 
and which Dr. Hakesworth has lately revived, in his 
Preface to the Voyages to the South Seas ; but Dr. 
Ogden's excellent doctrine on the efficacy of interces- 
sion prevailed. 

It was half an hour after eleven before we set our- 
selves in the course for Col. As I saw them all busy 
doing something, I asked Col, with much earnestness, 
what I could do. He, with a happy readiness, put into 
my hand a rope, which was fixed to the top of one of 
the masts, and told me to hold it till he bade me pull. If 
I had considered the matter, I might have seen that this 
could not be of the least service ; but his object was to 
keep me out of the way of those who were busy work- 
ing the vessel, and at the same time to divert my fear^ 
by employing me, and making me think that I was of 
use. Thus did I stand firm to my post, while the wind 
and rain beat upon me, always expecting a call to pull 
my rope. 

The man with one eye steered ; old M'Donald, and 
Col and his servant, lay upon the fore-castle, looking 
sharp out for the harbour. It was necessary to carry 
much cloth, as they termed it, that is to say, much sail, 
in order to keep the vessel off the shore of Col. This 
made violent plunging in a rough sea. At last they spied 
the harbour of Lochiern, and Col cried, " Thank God, 
we are safe !" We ran up till we were opposite to it, 
and soon afterwards we got into it, and cast anchor. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 269 

Dr. Johnson had all this time been quiet and uncon- 
cerned. He had lain down on one of the beds, and hav- 
ing got free from sickness, was satisfied. The truth is, he 
knew nothing of the danger we were in ; but, fearless 
and unconcerned, might have said in the words which 
he has chosen for the motto to his Rambler. 

Quo mc cunque ra/iit tem^iestas^ cUferor hosties* 

Once, during the doubtful consultations, he asked 
whither we were going ; and upon being told that it was 
not certain whether to Mull or Col, he cried, "Col for 
my money!" — I now went down, with Col and Mr. 
Simpson, to visit him. He was lying in philosophick 
tranquillity, with a greyhound of Col's at his back, 
keeping him warm. Col is quite the Juvenis quiguadet 
canibus. He had, when we left Talisker, two grey- 
hounds, two terriers, a pointer, and a large Newfound- 
land water-dog. He lost one of his terriers by the road, 
but had still five dogs with him. I was very ill, and 
very desirous to get to shore. When I was told that 
we could not land that night, as the storm had now in- 
creased, I looked so miserably, as Col afterwards in- 
formed me, that what Shakspeare has made the French- 
man say of the English soldiers, when scantily dieted, 
" Piteous they will look like drowned mice P'' might, I 
believe, have been well applied to me. There was in 
the harbour, before us, a Campbelltown vessel, the 
Betty, Kenneth Morison, master, taking in kelp, and 
bound for Ireland. We sent our boat to beg beds for 
two gentlemen, and that the master would send his boat, 
which was larger than ours. He accordingly did so, 

* For as the tempest drives, I shape my wav. Fra?jcis. 



270 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

and Col and I were accommodated in his vessel till the 
morning. 

Monday, 4<th October. 

About eight o'clock we went in tlie boat to Mr. 
Simpson's vessel, and took in Dr. Johnson. He was 
quite well, though he had tasted nothing but a dish of 
tea since Saturday night. On our expressing some sur- 
prize at this, he said, that, " w^hen he lodged in the 
Temple, and had no regular system of life, he had 
fasted for two days at a time, during which he had gone 
about visiting, though not at the hours of dinner or 
supper ; that he had drunk tea, but eaten no bread ; that 
tliis was no intentional fasting, but happened just in the 
course of a literar}- life." 

There was a little miserable publick-house close 
upon the shore, to which we should have gone had we 
landed last night : but this morning Col resolved to take 
us directly to the house of Captain Lauchlan M'Lean, 
a descendant of his family, who had acquired a fortune 
in the East- Indies, and taken a farm in Col. We had 
about an English mile to go to it. Col and Joseph, and 
some others, ran to some little horses, called here Shel- 
tiesy that were running wild on a heatli, and catched one 
of them. We had a saddle with us, which was clapped 
upon it, and a straw-halter was put on its head. Dr. 
Johnson was then mounted, and Joseph very slowly and 
graveiv led the horse. I said to Dr. Johnson, " I wish, 
^ir, the club saw you in this attitude."^ 

* This carious exhibition imy perhaps remind some of my readers of tlie 
iixiicrcas lines, made during Sir Robert Walpole's administration, on Mr. George 
(_ afterwards. Lord) Littleton, though the figures of the two personages must be- 
illowed to be very difierent : 

" But who is this astride the pony ; 

" So long, so lean, so lank, so bony ? 

" Dat be de great orator, Littletony." 



TO TflE HEBRIDES. 271 

It was a very heavy rain, and I was wet to the skin- 
Captain M'Lean had but a poor temporary house, or 
rather hut ; however, it was a very good haven to us. 
There was a blazing peat-fire, and Mrs. M'Lean, 
daughter of the minister of the parish, got us tea. I 
feh still the motion of the sea. Dr. Johnson said, it was 
not in imagination, but a continuation of motion on the 
fluids, like that of the sea itself after the storm is over. 

There were some books on the board which served 
as a chimney piece. Dr. Johnson took up Burnefs 
History of his own Times. He said, *' Tl^e first part ^ 
of it is one of the most entertaining books in the English ' 
language ; it is quite dramatick ; while he went about 
every where, saw every where, and heard every where. 
By the first part, I mean so far as it appears that Burnet 
himself was actually engaged in what he has told ; and 
this may be easily distinguished." Captain M'Lean 
censured Burnet, for his high praise of Lauderdale in a 
dedication, when he shews him in his history to have 
been so bad a man. — Johnson. " I do not myself think 
that a man should say in a dedication what he could not 
say in a history. However, allowance should be made ; 
for there is a great difference. The known style of a 
dedication is flattery : it professes to flatter. There is 
the same difference between what a man says in a dedi- 
cation, and what he says in a history, as between a law- 
yer's pleading a cause and reporting it." 

The day passed away pleasantly enough. The wind 
became fair for Mull in the evening, and Mr. Simpson 
resolved to sail next morning : but, having been thrown 
into the island of Col, we were unwilling to leave it un- 
examined, especially as wc considered that the Camp- 
beltown vessel would sail for Mull in a day or two, and 
therefore we determined to stay. 



272 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

Tuesday^ 5th October, -t^^Siift' 

I rose, and wrote my Journal till about nine ; and 
then went to Dr. Johnson, who sat up in bed, and talked 
and laughed. I said, it was curious to look back ten 
years, to the time when we first thought of visiting the 
Hebrides. How distant and improbable the scheme 
then appeared ! Yet here we were actually among them. 
— " Sir, (said he,) people may come to do any thing al- 
most, by talking of it. I really believe, I could talk 
myself into building a house upon island Isa, though 
I should probably never come back again to see it. I 
could easily persuade Reynolds to do it ; and there would 
be no great sin in persuading him to do it. Sir, he would 
reason thus : ' What will it cost me to be there once in 
two or three summers ? — Why, perhaps, five hundred 
pounds ; and what is that, in comparison of having a 
fine retreat, to which a man can go, or to which he can 
send a friend .^' He would never find out that he may 
have this within twenty miles of London. — Then I would 
tell him, that he may marry one of the Miss M'Leod's, 
a lady of great family. — Sir, it is surprising how peo- 
ple will go to a distance for what they may have at 
home. I knew a lady who came up from Lincolnshire 
to Knightsbridge with one of her daughters, and gave 
five guineas a week for a lodging and a warm bath ; that 
is, mere warm water. That^ you know, could not be 
had in Lincolnshire ! She said, it was made either too 
hot or too cold there." 

After breakfast, Dr. Johnson and I, and Joseph, 
mounted horses, and Col and the captain walked with 
us about a short mile across the island. We paid a visit 
to the Reverend Mr. Hector M'Lean. His parish con- 
sists of the islands of Col and Tyr-yi. He was about 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 273 

seventy-seven years of age, a decent ecclesiastick, dress- 
ed in a full suit of black clothes, and a black wig. He 
appeared like a Dutch pastor, or one of the assembly of 
divines at Westminster, Dr. Johnson observed to me 
afterwards, " that he was a fine old man, and was as 
well-dressed, and had as much dignity in his appear- 
ance as the dean of a cathedral." We were told, that 
he had a valuable library, though but poor accommo- 
dation for it, being obliged to keep his books in large 
chests. It was curious to see him and Dr. Johnson to- 
gether. Neither of them heard very distinctly ; so each 
of them talked in his own way, and at the same time. 
Mr. M'Lean said, he had a Confutation of Bayle, by 
Leibnitz. — Johnson. *' A confutation of Bayle, sir ! 
What part of Bayle do you mean ? The greatest part of 
his writings is not confutable : it is historical and criti- 
cal." — Mr. M'Lean said r "the irreligious part;" and 
proceeded to talk of Leibnitz's controversy with Clarke, 
calling Leibnitz a great man. — Johnson. " Why, sir, 
Leibnitz persisted in affirming that Newton called space 
sensorium ?iuminis, notwithstanding he was corrected, 
and desired to observe that Newton's words were qua- 
si sensoriufn numinis. No, sir; Leibnitz was as paltry 
a fellow as I know. Out of respect to Queen Caroline, 
who patronized him, Clarke treated him too well." 

During the time that Dr. Johnson was thus going 
on, the old minister was standing with his back to the 
fire, cresting up erect, pulling down the front of his pe- 
riwig, and talking what a great man Leibnitz was. To 
give an idea of the scene, would require a page with 
two columns ; but it ought rather to be represented by 
two good players. The old gentleman said, Clarke was 
very wicked, for going so much into the Arian system. 
" I will not say he was wicked, said Dr. Johnson ; he 

N n 



274 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

might be mistaken."- — McLean. "He was wicked, to 
shut his eyes against the Scriptures ; and worthy men 
in England have since confuted him to all intents and 
purposes." Johnson. " I know not -who has confuted 
him to all intents and pur poses. ''"' — Here again there was 
a double talking, each continuing to maintain his own 
argument, without hearing exactly what the other said. 

I regretted that Dr. Johnson did not practice the art 
of accommodating himself to different sorts of people. 
Had he been softer with this venerable old man, we 
might have had more conversation; but his forcible 
spirit, and impetuosity of manner, may be said to spare 
neither sex nor age. I have seen even Mrs. Thrale 
stunned ; but I have often maintained, that it is better 
he should retain his own manner. Pliability of address 
I conceive to be inconsistent with that majestick power 
of mind which he possesses, and which produces such 
noble effects. A lofty oak will not bend like a supple 
willow. 

He told me afterwards, he liked firmness in an old 
man, and was pleased to see Mr. M'Lean so orthodox. 
" At his age, it is too late for a man to be asking himself 
questions as to his belief." 

We rode to the northern part of the island, where 
we saw the ruins of a church or chapel. We then pro- 
ceeded to a place called Grissipol, or the rough Pool. 

At Grisspoi we found a good farm-house, belonging 
to the Laird of Col, and possessed by Mr. M'Sweyn. 
On the beach here there is a singular variety of curious 
stones. I picked up one very like % small cucumber. 
By the by, Dr. Johnson told me, that Gay's line in the 
Beggar^ s Opera, " As men should serve a cucumber," 
&c. has no waggish meaning, with reference to men 
flinging away cucumbers as too cooling, which some 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 275 

have thought ; for it has been a common saying of phy- 
sicians in England, that a cucumber should be well 
sliced, and dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then 
thrown out, as good for nothing. — Mr. M'Sweyn's pre- 
decessors had been in Sky from a very remote period, 
upon the estate belonging to M'Leod ; probably before 
M'Leod had it. The name is certainly Norwegian, 
from Suejio, King of Norway. The present Mr, 
M'Sweyn left Sky upon the late M'Leod's raising his 
rents. He then got this farm from Col, 

He appeared to be near fourscore ; but looked as 
fresh, and was as strong, as a man of fifty. His son 
Hugh looked older ; and, as Dr. Johnson observed, had 
more the manners of an old man than he. I had often 
heard of such instances, but never saw one before. 
Mrs. M'Sweyn was a decent old gentlewoman. She 
was dressed in tartan, and could speak nothing but Erse. 
She said, she taught Sir James M'Donald Erse, and 
would teach me soon. I could now sing a verse of the 
song Hatyinfoa rri'eri, made in honour of Allan, the fa- 
mous Captain of Clanranald, who fell at Sherif-muir ; 
whose servant, who lay on the field watching his mas- * 
ter's dead body, being asked next day who that was, an^ 
swered, " He was a man yesterday." 

We were entertained here with a primitive hearti- 
ness. Whisky was served round in a shell, according 
to the ancient Highland custom. Dr. Johnson would 
not partake of it ; but, being desirous to do honour to 
the modes " of other times," drank some water out of 
the shell. 

In the forenoon Dr. Johnson said, " it would require 
great resignation to live in one of these islands." — Bos- 
welL " I don't know, sir ; I have felt myself at times in a 
state of almost mere physical existence, satisfied to eat, 



« ,<> 



276 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

drink, and sleep, and walk about, and enjoy my own 
thoughts; and I can figure a continuation of this." — 
Johnson. " Ay, sir ; but if you were shut up here, your 
own thoughts would torment you : you M'ould think of 
Edinburgh or London, and that you could not be there." 
We set out after dinner, for Breacacha^ the family 
seat of the Laird of Col, accompanied by the young 
laird, who had now got a horse, and by the younger 
Mr. M'Sweyn, whose wife had gone thither before us, 
to prepare every thing for our reception, the laird and 
his family being absent at Aberdeen. It is called 
Breacacha, or the Spotted Field, because in summer it 
is enamelled with clover and daisies, as young Col told 
me. We passed by a place where there is a very large 
stone, I may call it a rock ; — " a vast weight for Ajax." 
The tradition is, that a giant threw such another stone at 
his mistress up to the top of a hill at a small distance ; 
and that she, in return, threw this mass down to him. 
It was all in sport. 

Afalo me petit lasciva puella* 

As we advanced, we came to a large extent of plain 
ground. I had not seen such a place for a long time. 
Col and I took a gallop upon it by way of race. It was 
very refreshing to me, after having been so long taking 
short steps in hilly countries. It was like stretching a 
man's legs after being cramped in a short bed. We 
also passed close by a large extent of sand-hills, near 
two miles square. Dr. Johnson said, " he never had 
the image before. It was horrible, if barrenness and 
danger could be so." I heard him, after we were in 
the house of Breacacha, repeating to himself, as he 
walked about the room, 

" And, smother'd in the dusty whirlwind, dies." 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 277 

Probably he had been thinking of the whole of the 
simile in Cato, of which that is the concluding line : 
the sandy desart had struck him so strongly. The sand 
has of late been blown over a good deal of meadow ; 
and the people of the island say, that their fathers 
remembered much of the space which is now covered 
with sand, to have been under tillage. Col's house is 
situated on a bay called Breacacha Bay. We found 
here a neat new-built gentleman's house, better than 
any we had been in since we were at Lord Errol's. Dr. 
Johnson relished it much at first, but soon remarked to 
me that " there was nothing becoming a Chief about it : 
it was a mere tradesman's box." He seemed quite at 
home, and no longer found any difficulty in using the 
Highland address ; for as soon as we arrived, he said, 
with a spirited familiarity, " Now, Col^ if you could get 
us a dish of tea." — Dr. Johnson and I had each an ex- 
cellent bed-chamber. We had a dispute which of us 
had the best curtains. His were rather the best, being 
of linen ; but I insisted that my bed/ had the best posts, 
which was undeniable. " Well, (said he,) if you have 
the h^'sXposts^ we will have you tied to them, and whip- 
ped." — I mention this slight circumstance, only to shew 
how ready he is, even in mere trifles, to get the better 
of his antagonist, by placing him in a ludicrous view. 
I have known him sometimes use the same art, when 
hard pressed, in serious disputation. Goldsmith, I re- 
member, to retaliate for many a severe defeat which 
he has suffered from him, applied to him a lively saying 
in one of Cibber's comedies, which puts this part of his 
character in a strong light, — " There is no arguing with 
Johnson ; for, if his pistol misses Jii'e, he knocks you down 
with the hut-end of it, '''* 



278 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

Wednesday^ 6th October. 

After a sufficiency of sleep, we assembled at break- 
fast. We were just as if in barracks. Every body was 
master. We went and viewed the old castle of Col, 
which is not far from the present house, near the shore, 
and founded on a rock. It has never been a large feudal 
residence, and has nothing about it that requires a parti- 
cular description. Like other old inconvenient buildings 
of the same age, it exemplified Gray's picturesque lines, 

'* Huge windows that exclude the light, 
'' And passages that lead to nothing," 

It may however be worth mentioning, that on the 
second story we saw a vault, which was, and still is, 
the family prison. There was a woman put into it 
by the laird, for theft, within these ten years ; and any 
oiFender would be confined there yet ; for, from the ne- 
cessity of the thing, as the island is remote from any 
power established by law, the laird must exercise his 
jurisdiction to a certain degree. 

We were shewn, in a corner of this vault, a hole, 
into which Col said greater criminals used to be put. 
It was now filled up with rubbish of different kinds. 
He said, it was of a great depth. '' Ay, (said Dr. John- 
son, smiling,) all such places, that are filled up, were of 
a great depth." He is very quick in shewing that he 
does not give credit to careless or exaggerated accounts 
of things. After seeing the castle, we looked at a 
small hut near it. It is called Teigh Franchich, i. e. 
the Frenchman's House. Col could not tell us the 
history of it. A poor man with a wife and children 
now lived in it. We went into it, and Dr. Johnson 



T© THE HEBRIDES.* - 279 

'A 

gave them some charity. There was but one bed for 
the whole family, and the hut was very smoky. When 
he came out, he said to me, " £t hoc secundum senten- 
tiam pJulosophorum est esse beatus.^'' — Bosxvell. " The 
philosophers, when they placed happiness in a cottage, 
supposed cleanliness and no smoke." — Johnson, *' Sir 
they did not think about either." 

We walked a little in the laird's garden, in which 
endeavours have been used to rear some trees ; but, as 
soon as they got above the surrounding wall they died. 
Dr. Johnson recommended sowing the seeds of hardy 
trees, instead of planting. 

Col and I rode out this morning, and viewed a part 
of the island. In the course of our ride, we saw a tur- 
nip-field, which he had hoed with his own hands. He 
first introduced this kind of husbandry into the Western 
islands. We also looked at an appearance of lead, 
which seemed very promising. It has been long known ; 
for I found letters to the late laird from Sir John Are- 
skine and Sir Alexander Murray, respecting it. 

After dinner came Mr. M'Lean, of Corneck, bro- 
ther to Isle of Muck, who is a cadet of the familv of 
Col. He possesses the two ends of Col which belono- 
to the Duke of Argyll. Corneck had lately taken a 
lease of them at a very advanced rent, rather than let 
the Campbells get a footing in the island, one of whom 
had oifered nearly as much as he. Dr. Johnson well 
observed, that, " landlords err much when they calcu- 
late merely what their land mai^ yield. The rent must 
be in a proportionate ratio of what the land may yield 
and of the power of the tenant to make it yield. A te- 
nant cannot make by his land, but according to the corn 
and cattle which he has. Suppose you should mve 
him twice as much land as he has, it does him nogood^ 



280 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

unless he gets also more stock. It is clear then, that 
the Highland landlords, who let their substantial tenants 
leave them, are infatuated ; for the poor small tenants 
cannot give them good rents, from the very nature of 
things. They have not the means of raising more 
from their farms." Corneck, Dr. Johnson said, was 
the most distinct man that he had met with in these 
isles ; he did not shut his eyes, or put his fingers in 
his ears, which he seemed to think was a good deal the 
mode with most of the people whom we have seen of 
late. 

Thursday^ 1th October, 

Captain M'Lean joined us this morning at break- 
fast. There came on a dreadful storm of wind and 
rain, which continued all day, and rather increased at 
night. The wind was directly against our getting to 
Mull. We were in a strange state of abstraction from 
the world : we could neither hear from our friends, nor 
write to them. Col had brought. Daille on the Fathers, 
Lucas on Happiness, and More's Dialogues, from the 
Reverend Mr. M'Lean's, and Burnet's History of his 
own Times from Captain M'Lean's ; and he had of his 
own some books of Farming, and Gregory's Geometry. 
Dr. Johnson read a good deal of Burnet, and of Gre- 
gory, and I observed he made some geometrical notes 
in the end of his pocket-book. I read a little of Young's 
Six Weeks Tour through the Southern Counties ; and 
Ovid's Epistles, which I had bought at Inverness, and 
which helped to solace many a weary hour. 

We were to have gone with Dr. Johnson this morn- 
ing to see the mine ; but Avere prevented by the storm. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 281 

While it was ^raging, he said, " We may be glad we 
are not damnati ad metalla.^'* 

Friday^ 8th October. 

Dr. Johnson appeared to day very weary of our pre- 
sent confined situation. He said, "I want to be on the 
main land, and go on with existence. This is a waste 
of life." 

I shall here insert without regard to chronology, some 
of his conversation at different times. 

" There was a man some time ago, who was well re- 
ceived for two years, among the gentlemen of North- 
amptonshire, by calling himself my brother. At last he 
grew so impudent as by his influence to get tenants 
turned out of their farms. Allen the Printer, who is of 
that county, ca me to me, asking, with much appearance 
of doubtfulness, if I had a brother ; and upon being as- 
sured I had none alive, he told me of the imposition, and 
immediately wrote to the country, and the fellow was 
dismissed. It pleased me to hear that so much was got 
by using my name. It is not every name that can car- 
ry double ; do both for a man's self and his brother 
(laughing). I should be glad to see the fellow. How- 
ever, I could have done nothing against him. A man 
can have no redress for his name being used, or ridicu- 
lous stories being told of him in the news-papers, except 
he can shew that he has suffered damage. — Some years 
ago a foolish piece was published, said to be written 
* by S. Johnson.^ Some of my friends wanted me to 
be very angry about this, t said, it would be in vain ; 
for the answer would be, S. Johnson may be Simon John- 
son, or Simeon Johnson, or Solomon Johnson;' and even 

o* o 



282 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

if the full name, Samuel Johnson, had been used, it 
might be said ; ' it is not you ; it is a much cleverer 
fellow.' 

" Beauclerk and I, and Langton, and Lady Sydney 
Beauclerk, mother to our friend, were one day driving 
in a coach by Cuper's Gardens, which were then unoc- 
pied. I, in sport, proposed that Beauclerk and Lang- 
ton, and myself should take them ; and we amused our- 
selves with scheming how we should all do our parts. 
Lady Sydney grew angry, and said, " an old man should 
not put such things in young people's heads.' She had 
no notion of a joke, sir ; had come late into life, and had 
a mighty unpliable understanding. 

" Cartels Life of the Duke of Ormond is considered 
as a book of authority ; but it is ill-written. The mat- 
ter is diffused in too many words ; there is no animation, 
no compression, no vigour. Two good volumes in duo- 
decimo might be made out of the two in folio." 

Talking of our confinement here, I observed, that 
our discontent and impatience could not be considered 
as very unreasonable ; for that we were just in the state 
of which Seneca complains so grievously, while in exile 
in Corsica. " Yes, (said Dr. Johnson,) and he Avas not 
farther from home than we are." The truth is, he was 
much nearer. 

There was a good deal of rain to-day, and the wind 
was still contrary. Corneck attended me, while I amused 
myself in examining a collection of papers belonging to 
the family of Col. The first laird was a younger son 
of the Chieftain M'Lean, and got the middle pait of 
Col for his patrimony. Dr. Johnson having given a 
very particular account of the connection between this 
familv and a branch of the familv of Camerons, called 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 283 

M'Lonich, I sliail only insert the following document, 
(which I found in Col's cabinet,) as a proof of its con- 
tinuance, even to a late period : 

To the Laird of Col. 
" Dear Sir, 

" THE long-standing tract of firm affectionate 
friendship 'twixt your worthy predecessors and ours af- 
fords us such assurance, as that we may have full rely- 
ance on your favour and undoubted friendship, in re- 
commending the bearer, Ewen Cameron, our cousin, 
son to the deceast Dugall M'Connil of Innermaillie, 
sometime in Glenpean, to your favour and conduct, who 
is a man of undoubted honesty and discretion, only that 
he has the misfortune of being alledged to have been 
accessory to the killing of one of M'Martin's family 
about fourteen years ago, upon which alledgeance the 
M'Martins are now so sanguine on revenging, that they 
are fully resolved for the deprivation of his life ; to the 
preventing of which you are relyed on. by us, as the only 
fit instrument, and a most capable person. Therefore 
your favour and protection is expected and intreated, 
during his good behaviour ; and failing of which be- 
haviour, you'll please to use him as a most insignificant 
person deserves. 

" Sir, he had, upon the alledgeance foresaid, been 
transported, at LochiePs desire, to France, to gratify the 
M'Martins, and upon his return home about five years 
ago, married : But now he is so much threatened by 
the M'Martins, that he is not secure enough to stay 
where he is, being Ardmurchan, which occasions this 
trouble to you. Wishing prosperity and happiness to 



254 JOURNAL OF A TOtTR 

attend still yourself, worthy Lady, and good family, 
we are, in the most affectionate manner, Dear sir, 
Your most obliged, affectionate, 
and most humble servants, 

DuGALL Cameron, of Strone. 
DuGALL Cameron, of Barr. 
DuGALL Cameron, of Invmskvouilline, 
Dug ALL Cameron, of Invirivalie.^^ 

Strone, 11th March, 1737. 

Ewen Cameron was protected, and his son has now 
a farm from the Laird of Col, in Mull. 

The family of Col was very loyal in the time of the 
great Montrose, from whom I found two letters, in his 
own hand- writing. The first is as follows : 

For my very loving friend the Laird of CoalL 
'■' Sir, 

" I must heartily thank you for all your willing- 
ness and good affection to his Majesty's service, and 
particularly the sending alongs of your son, to who I will 
heave ane particular respect, hopeing also that you will 
still continue ane good instrument for the advanceing 
ther of the king's service, for which, and all your for- 
mer lo}^al carnages, be confident you shall find the 
effects of his Ma~s favour, as they can be witnessed 
you by 

Your very faithful friende, 

Sti-ethearne MoNTROSE." 

30 Jan . I64t). 

The other is, 

For the Laird of Col. 
^' Sir, 

*' HAVING occasion to write to your fields, I 
cannot be forgetful of your willingness and good affec- 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 285 

tion to his majesty's service. I acknowledge to you, 
and thank you heartily for it, assuring, that in what lyes 
in my power, you shall find the good. Meanwhile, I shall 
expect that you will continue your loyal endeavours, in 
wishing those slack people that are about you, to appear 
more obedient than they do, and loyal in their prince's 
service ; whereby I assure you, you shall find me ever 

Your faithful friend, 
i^?^"^'i«.fi Montrose. "*- 

17 April, 1646. 

I found some uncouth lines on the death of the pre- 
sent laird's father, intituled " Nature's Elegy on the 
Death of Donald Maclean of Col." They are not worth 
insertion. I shall only give what is called his Epitaph, 
which Dr. Johnson said, " was not so very bad." 

^' Nature's minion, Virtue's wonder, 
" Art's corrective, here lyes under." 

I asked, what " Art's corrective" meant. " Why, 
sir, (said he,) that the laird was so exquisite, that he set 
art right, when she was wrong." 

I found several letters to the late Col, from my 
father's old companion at Paris, Sir Hector M'Lean, 
one of which was written at the time of settling the 
colony in Georgia. It dissuades Col from letting people 
go there, and assures him there will soon be an oppor- 
tunity of employing them better at home. Hence it ap- 
pears that emigration from the Highlands, though not 
in such numbers at a time as of late, has always been 
practised. Dr. Johnson obser\-ed, that, " the Lairds, 

* It is observable that men of the first rank spelt very ill in the last century. 
In the first of these letters I have preserved the original spelling. 



286 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

instead of improving their country, diminished their 
people.'* 

There are several districts of sandy desart in Col. 
There are forty- eight lochs of fresh water ; but many 
of them are very small, — mere pools. About one half 
of them, however, have trout and eel. There is a great 
number of horses in tlie island, mostly of a small size. 
Being over-stocked, they sell some in Tir-yi, and on 
the main land. Their black cattle, which are chiefly 
rough-haired, are reckoned remarkably good. The cli- 
mate being verj^ mild inwinter, they never put their beasts 
in any house. The lakes are never frozen so as to bear 
a man ; and snow never lies above a few hours. They 
have a good many sheep, which they eat mostly them- 
selves, and sell but a few. They have goats in several 
places. There are no foxes ; no serpents, toads, or 
frogs, nor any venomous creature. They have otters 
and mice here ; but had no rats till lately that an Ameri- 
can vessel brought them. There is a rabbit-warren, on 
the north-east of the island, belonging to the Duke of 
Argyle. Young Col intends to get some hares, of which 
there are none at present. There are no black-cock, 
muir-fowl,norpartridges; but there are snipe, wild-duck, 
wild-geese, and swans, in winter ; wild pigeons, plover, 
and great number of starlings ; of which I shot some, and 
found them pretty good eating. Woodcocks come hither, 
though there is not a tree upon the island. There are 
no rivers in Col ; but only some brooks, in which there 
is a great variety of fish. In the whole isle there are 
but three hills, and none of them considerable, for a 
Highland country. The people are very industrious. 
Every man can tan. They get oak, and birch-bark, 
and lime, from the main land. Some have pits ; but 
they commonly use tubs. I saw brogues very well 



TO THE HEBRIDES. , 287 

tanned ; and every man can make them. They all 
make candles of the tallow of their beasts, both mould- 
ed and dipped ; and they all make oil of the livers of 
fish. The little fish called Cuddies produce a great 
deal. They sell some oil out of the island, and they 
use it much for light in their houses, in little iron lamps, 
most of which they have from England ; but of late 
their own blacksmith makes them. He is a good 
workman ; but he has no employment in shoeing 
horses, for they all go unshod here, except some of a 
better kind belonging to young Col, which were now 
in Mull. There are two carpenters in Col : but most 
of the inhabitants can do something as boat-carpenters. 
They can all dye. Heath is used for yellow ; and for 
red, a moss which grows on stones. They make broad 
cloth, and tartan and linen, of their own wool and flax, 
sufficient for their own use ; as also stockings. Their 
bonnets come from the main land. Hard-ware and 
several small articles are brought annually from Gree- 
nock, and sold in the only shop in the island, which is 
kept near the house, or rather hut, used for public wor- 
ship, there being no church in the island. — The inha- 
bitants of Col have increased considerably within these 
thirty years, as appears from the parish registers. 
There are but three considerable tacksmen on Col's 
part of the island : the rest is let to small ' tenants, 
some of whom pay so low a rent as four, three, or 
even two guineas. The highest is seven pounds, 
paid by a farmer, whose son goes yearly on foot to 
Aberdeen for education, and in summer returns, and 
acts as a school-master in Col. Dr. Johnson, said, 
" There is somediing noble in a young man's walking- 
two hundred miles and back again, every year for the 
sake of learninsr." 



288 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

This day a number of people came to Col, with 
complaints of each others' trespasses. Comeck, to 
prevent their being troublesome, told them, that the 
lawyer from Edinburgh was here, and, if they did 
not agree, he would take them to task. They were 
alarmed at this ; said, they had never been used to go 
to law, and hoped Col would settle matters himself. — 
In the evening Corneck left us. 

Saturday^ 9th October, 

As, in our present confinement, any thing that had 
even the name of curious was an object of attention, I 
proposed that Col should show me the great stone, 
mentioned in a former page, as having been thrown by 
a giant to the top of a mountain. Dr. Johnson, who 
did not like to be left alone, said he would accompany 
us as far as riding was practicable. We ascended a part 
of the hill on horseback, and Col and I scrambled up 
the rest. A servant held our horses, and Dr. Johnson 
placed himself on the ground, with his back against a 
large fragment of rock. The wind being high, he let 
down the cocks of his hat, and tied it with his handker- 
chief under his chin. While we were emploj'ed in ex- 
amining the stone, which did not repay our trouble in 
getting to it, he amused himself with reading Gataker 
on Lots and on the Christian Watch^ a very learned 
book, of the last age, which had been found in the garret 
of Col's house, and which he said was a treasure here. 
When we descried him from above, he had a most 
eremetical appearance ; and on our return told us, he 
had been so much engaged by Gataker, that he had 
never missed us. His avidity for variety of books, 
while we were in Col, was frequently expressed \ and 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 289 

he often complained that so few were within his reach. 
Upon which I observed to him, that it was strange he 
should complain of want of books, when he could at 
any time make such good ones. 

We next proceeded to the lead mine. In our way 
we came to a strand of some extent, where we were 
glad to take a gallop, in which my learned friend joined 
with great alacrity. Dr. Johnson mounted on a large 
bay mare without shoes, and followed by a foal, which 
had some difficulty in keeping up with him, was a sin- 
gular spectacle. 

After examining the mine, we returned through a 
very uncouth district, full of sand hills ; down which, 
though apparent precipices, our horses carried us with 
safety, the sand always gently sliding away from their 
feet. Vestiges of houses were pointed out to us, which 
Col, and two others who had joined us, asserted had 
been overwhelmed with sand blown over them. But, 
ongoing close to one of them, Dr. Johnson shewed the 
absurdity of the notion, by remarking, that " it was 
evidently only a house abandoned, the stones of which 
had been taken away for other purposes ; for the large 
stones, which form the lower part of the walls, were 
still standing higher than the sand. If they were not 
blown over, it was clear nothing higher than they could 
be blown over." This was quite convincing to me; 
but it made not the least impression on Col and the 
others, who were not to be argued out of a Highland 
tradition. 

We did not sit down to dinner till between six and 
seven. We lived plentifully here, and had a true wel- 
come. In such a season, good firing was of no small 
importance. The peats were excellent, and burned 
cheerfully. Those at Dunvegan, which were damp, 

. pp 



290 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

Dr. Johnson called " a sullen fuel."— Here a Scottish 
phrase was singularly applied to him. One of the com- 
pany having remarked that he had gone out on. a stormy 
evening and brought in a supply of peats from the stack, 
Old Mr. M'Sweyn said, "that was main honest V 

Blenheim being occasionally mentioned, he told me 
he had never seen it : he had not gone formerly ; and 
he would not go now, just as a common spectator, for 
his money : he would not put it in the power of some 
man about the Duke of Marlborough to say, ' Johnson 
was here ; I knew him, but I took no notice of him.' 
He said, he would be very glad to see it, if properly in- 
vited, which in all probability would never be the case, 
as it was not worth his while to seek for it. — I observed, 
that4ie might be easily introduced there by a common 
friend of ours, nearly related to the duke. He answer- 
ed, with an uncommon attention to delicacy of feeling, 
*' I doubt whether our friend be on such a footing with 
the duke as to carry any body there ; and I would not 
give him the uneasiness of seeing that I knew he was 
not, or even of being himself reminded of it." 

Sunday^ lOtk October. 

There was this day the most terrible storm of wind 
and rain that I ever remember. It made such an awful 
impression on us all, as to produce, for some time, a kind 
of dismal quietness in the house. The day was passed 
without much conversation : only, upon my observing 
that there must be something bad in a man's mind, who 
does not like to give leases to his tenants, but wishes to 
keep them in a perpetual wretched dependence on his 
will, Dr. Johnson said, " You are right : it is a man's 
duty to extend comfort and security among as many 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 291 

people as he can. He should not wish to have his tenants 
mere Ephemera, — mere beings of anhom\" — Boswell. 
" But, sir, if they have leases, is there not some danger 
that they may grow insolent ? I remember you your- 
self once told me, an English tenant was so independent, 
that, if provoked, he would throxv his rent at his land- 
lord." — Johnson. " Depend upon it, sir, it is the land- 
lord's own fault, if it is thrown at him. A man may 
always keep his tenants in dependence enough, though 
they have leases. He must be a good tenant, indeed, 
who will not fall behind in his rent, if his landlord will 
let him ; and if he does fall behind, his landlord has him 
at his mercy. Indeed, the poor man is always much 
at the mercy of the rich ; no matter whether landlord 
or tenant. If the tenant lets his landlord have a little 
rent before-hand, or has lent him money, then the land- 
lord is in his power. There cannot be a greater man 
than a tenant who has lent money to his landlord ; for 
he has under subjection the very man to whom he 
should be subjected." 

• 

Monday .f Wth October. 

We had some days ago engaged the Campbelltown 
vessel to carry us to Mull, from the harbour where she 
lay. The morning was fine, and the wind fair and mo- 
derate ; so we hoped at length to get away. 

Mrs. M'Sweyn, who officiated as our landlady here, 
had never been on the main land. On hearing this, Dr. 
Johnson said to me, before her, " That is rather being 
behind-hand with life. I would at least go and see Gle- 
nelg." — Bosrwell. " You yourself, sir, have never seen, 
till now, any thing but your native island." — Johnson. 
" But, sir, by seeing London, I have seen as much of 



# 



% 



292 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

li^e as the world can shew." — Boswell. " You have not 
seen Pekin." — Johnson. " What is Pekin? Ten thou- 
sand Londoners would drive all the people of Pekin : 
they would drive them like deer," 

We set out about eleven for the harbour ; but, be- 
fore we reached it, so violent a storm came on, that we 
were obliged again to take shelter in the house of Cap- 
tain M'Lean, where we dined, and passed the night. 

Tuesday^ \2th October. 

After breakfast, we made a second attempt to get to 
the harbour ; but another storm soon convinced us that 
it would be in vain. Captain M'Lean's house being in 
some confusion, on account of Mrs. M'Lean being ex- 
pected to lie-in, we resolved to go to Mr. M'Swcyn's, 
where we arrived very wet, fatigued, and hungry. In 
this situation, we were somewhat disconcerted by being 
told that we should have no dinner till late in the even- 
ing ; but should have tea in the mean time. Dr. John- 
son opposed this arrangement ; but they persisted, and 
he took the tea very readily. He said, to me after- 
wards, " You must consider, sir, a dinner here is a mat- 
ter of great consequence. It is a thing to be first planned, 
and then executed. I suppose the mutton was brought 
some miles off, from some place where they knew there 
was a sheep killed." 

Talking of the good people with whom we were, he 
said, " Life has not got at all forward by a generation 
in M'Sweyn's famil}'^ ; for the son is exactly formed 
upon the father. What the father says, the son says ; 
and what the father looks, the son looks." 

There being little conversation to-night, I must en- 
deavour to recollect what I may have omitted on former 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 29S 

occasions. — When I boasted, at Rasay, of my indepen- 
dency of spirit, and that I could not be bribed, he said, 
" Yes, you may be bribed by flattery." — At the Reve- 
rend Mr. M'Lean's Dr. Johnson asked him, if the peo- 
ple of Col had any superstitions. He said, " No." The 
cutting peats at the increase of the moon was mention- 
ed as one ; but he would not allow it, saying, it was not 
a superstition, but a whim. Dr. Johnson would not 
admit the distinction. There were many superstitions, 
he maintained, not connected with religion ; and this 
was one of them. — On Monday we had a dispute at the 
Captain's, whether sand-hills could be fixed down by 
art. Dr. Johnson said, " How the devil can you do it V 
but instantly corrected himself, " How can you do it ?" 
— r\ never before heard him use a phrase of that nature. 
He has particularities which it is impossible to ex- 
plain. He never wears a night-cap, as I have already 
mentioned ; but he puts a handkerchief on his head in 
the night. — The day that we left Talisker, he bade us 
ride on. He then turned the head of his horse back 
towards Talisker, stopped for some time ; then wheeled 
round to the same direction with ours, and then came 
briskly after us. He sets open a window in the coldest 
day or night, and stands before it. It may do with his 
constitution ; but most people, amongst whom I am 
one, would say, with the frogs in the fable, " This may 
be sport to you ; but it is death to us." — It is in vain to 
try to find a meaning in every one of his particularities, 
which, I suppose, are mere habits^ contracted by chance ; 
of which every man has some that are more or less re- 
markable. His speaking to himself, or rather repeating, is 
a common habit with studious men accustomed to deep 
thinking ; and, in consequence of their being thus rapt, 
they will even laugh by themselves, if the subject which 



294 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

they are musing on is a merry one. Dr. Johnson is often 
uttering pious ejaculations, when he appears to be talk- 
ing to himself ; for sometimes his voice grows stronger, 
and parts of the Lord's Prayer are heard. I have sat 
beside him with more than ordinary reverence on such 
occasions.* 

In our Tour, I observed that he was disgusted when- 
ever he met with coarse manners. He said to me, *' I 
know not how it is, but I cannot bear low life : and I 
find others, who hdve as good a right as I to be fastidi- 
ous, bear it better, by having mixed more with different 
sorts of men. You would think that I have mixed pret- 
ty well too." 

He read this day a good deal of my Journal, written 
in a small book with which he had supplied me, and was 
pleased, for he said, " I wish thy books were twice as 
big." He helped me to fill up blanks which I had left 
in first writing it, when I was not quite sure of what he 
had said, and he corrected any mistakes that I had made. 
" They call me a scholar, (said he,) and yet how very 
little literature is there in my conversation." — Boswell. 
*' That, sir, must be according to your company. You 
would not give literature to those who cannot taste it. 
Stay till we meet Lord Elibank." 

We had at last a good dinner, or rather supper, and 
were very well satisfied with our entertainment. 

Wednesday, 13th October. 

Col called me up, with intelligence that it was a good 
day for a passage to Mull ; and just as we rose, a sailor 

* It is remarkable, that Dr. Johnson should have read this account of some 
of his own peculiar habits, without saying any thing on the subject, which I hoped 
he would have done. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 295 

from the vessel arrived for for us. We got all ready 
with dispatch. Dr. Johnson was displeased at my bust- 
ling, and walking quickly up and down. He said, " It 
does not hasten us a bit. It is getting on horseback in 
a ship. Ail boys do it ; and you are longer a boy than 
others." He himself has no alertness, or whatever it 
may be called ; so he may dislike it, as Oderunt hilarem 
tristes. 

Before we reached the harbour, the wind grew high 
again. However, the small boat was waiting, and took 
us on board. We remained for some time in uncer- 
tainty what to do ; at last it was determined, that, as a 
good part of the day was over, and it was dangerous to 
be at sea at night, in such a vessel, and such weather, 
we should not sail till the morning tide, when the wind 
would probably be more gentle. We resolved not to 
go ashore again, but lie here in readiness. Dr. Johnson 
and I had each a bed in the cabbin. Col sat at the fire 
in the forecastle, with the captain, and Joseph, and the 
rest. I eat some dry oatmeal, of which I found a bar- 
rel in the cabbin. I had not done this since I was a boy. 
Dr. Johnson owned that he too was fond of it when a 
boy ; a circumstance which I was highly pleased to hear 
from him, as it gave me an opportunity of observing that, 
'notwithstanding his joke on the article of oats, he was 
himself a proof that this kind oijbod was not peculiar to 
the people of Scotland. 

Thursday^ YA<th October, 

When Dr. Johnson awaked this morning, he called, 
" Lanky r'' having, I suppose, been thinking of Lang, 
ton ; but corrected himself instantly, and cried, *' Boz- 
zy ?" He has a way of contracting the names of his 



296 JOURNAL (?)F A TOUK 

friends. Goldsmith feels himself so important now, as 
to be displeased at it. I remember one day, when Tom 
Davies was telling that Dr. Johnson said, " We are all 
in labour for a name to Goldy''s play," Goldsmith cried, 
" I have often desired him not to call me Goldy,'''' 

Between six and seven we hauled our anchor, and 
set sail with a fair breze ; and after a pleasant voyage, 
we got safely and agreeably into the harbour of Tober- 
morie, before the wind rose, which it always has done, 
for some days, about noon. 

Tobermorie is an excellent harbour. An island lies 
before it, and it is surrounded by a hilly theatre. The 
island is too low, otherwise this would be quite a se- 
cure port ; but, the island not being a sufficient protec- 
tion, some storms blow very hard here. Not long ago, 
fifteen vessels were blown from their moorings. There 
are sometimes sixty or seventy sail here : to-day there 
were twelve or fourteen vessels. To see such a fleet was 
the next thing to seeing a tovm. The vessels were 
from different places ; Clyde, Campbelltown, Newcastle, 
&c. One was returning to Lancaster from Hamburgh. 
After having been shut up so long in Col, the sight of 
such an assemblage of moving habitations, containing 
such a variety of people, engaged in different pursuits, 
gave me much gaiety of spirit. When we had landed. 
Dr. Johnson said, " Bos well is now all alive. He is 
like Antaeus ; he gets new vigour whenever he touches 
the ground." — I went to the top of a hill fronting the 
harbour, from whence I had a good view of it. We 
had here a tolerable inn. Dr. Johnson had owned to me 
this morning, that he was out of humour. Indeed, he 
shewed it a good deal in the ship ; for when I was ex- 
pressing my joy on the prospect of our landing in Mull, 
he said, he had no joy, when he recollected that it 



» 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 297 

would be five days before he should get to the main 
land. I was afraid he would now take a sudden resolu- 
tion to give up seeing Icolmkill. A dish of tea and 
some good bread and butter, did him service, and his 
bad humour went off. I told him, that I was diverted 
to hear all the people whom we had visited in our Tour, 
say, " Honest man ! he's pleased with every thing ; 
he's always content!" — "Little do they know," said 
I. He laughed, and said, " You rogue I" 

We sent to hire horses to carry us across the island 
of Mull to the shore opposite to Inchkenneth, the resi- 
dence of Sir Allan M'Lean, uncle to young Col, and 
Chief of the M'Leans, to whose house we intended to 
go the next day. Our friend Col went to visit his aunt, 
the wife of Dr. Alexander M'Lean, a physician, who 
lives about a mile from Tobermorie. 

Dr. Johnson and I sat by ourselves at the inn, and 
talked a good deal. — I told him, that I had found, in 
Leandro Alberti's Description of Italy, much of what 
Addison has given us in his Remarks. He said, " The 
collection of passages from the Classicks has been made 
by another Italian : it is, however, impossible to detect 
a man as a plagiary in such a case, because all who set 
about making such a collection must find fhe same pas- 
sages ; but, if you find the same applications in another 
book, then Addison's learning in his Remarks tumbles 
down. It is a tedious book ; and, if it were not at- 
tached tp Addison's previous reputation, one would 
not think much of it. Had he written nothing else, 
his name would not have lived. Addison does not 
seem to have gone deep in Italian literature : he shews 
nothing of it in his subsequent writings. He shews a 
great deal of French learning. — There is, perhaps, 
more knowledge circulated in the Frencli language 



298 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

than in any other. There is more original knowledge, 
in. English." — " But the French (said I) have the art 
of accommodating literature." — Johnson. " Yes, sir ; 
we have no such book as Moreri's Dictionary." — Bos- 
well. " Their Ana are good." — Johnson. " A few of 
them are good ; but we have one book of that kind bet- 
ter than any of them ; Selden's Table-talk. As to 
original literature, the French have a couple of tragick 
poets who go round the world, Racine and Corneille^ 
and one comick poet, Moliere.'''' — Boswell. " They 
have Fenelon.'''' — Johnson. " Why, sir, Teletnachus is 
pretty well." — Boswell. " And Voltaire, sir." — John- 
son. " He has not stood his trial yet. And what 
makes Voltaire chiefly circulate, is collection ; such as 
his Universal History. ^^ — Boswell, *' What do you 
say to the bishop of Meaux ?" — Johnson. " Sir, nobo- 
dy reads him."* — He would not allow Masillon and 
Bourdeloue to go round the world. In general, how- 
ever, he gave the French much praise for their industry. 
He asked me whether he had mentioned, in any of 
the papers of the Rambler, the description in Virgil of 
the entrance into Hell, with an application to the press : 
" for (said he) I do not much remember them." I 
told him, " No." Upon which he repeated it : 

Vestihulum ante ipsum, primisque in faiicibus orci, 
Luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae ; 
Pallenlesque habitant Moibi, tristisque Senectus, 
Et metus, et malesuada F||pes, et turpis EgestaS, 
Tcvribiles visii forms ; Lethumqr.e, Laborque.f 

* I take leave to enter my strongest protest against this judgement. Bossuet 
I hold to be one of the first luminaries of religion and literature. If there are 
who do not read him, it is full time they should begin. 

I Just in the gate, and in the jav.'^s of hell, 
Revengeful cares, and sullen sorrows dwell ; 



# 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 299 

" Now, (said he,) almost all these apply exactly to an 
authour : all these are the concomitants of a printing- 
house." I proposed to him to dictate an essay on it, 
and offered to write it. He said, he would not do it 
then, but perhaps would write one at some future pe- 
riod. 

The Sunday evening that we sat by ourselves at 
Aberdeen, I asked him several particulars of his life, 
from his early years, which he readily told me ; and 1 
wrote them down before him. This day I proceeded 
in my inquiries, also writing them in his presence. I have 
them on detached sheets. I shall collect authentick mate- 
rials for The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL. D. ; 
and, if I survive him, I shall be one who will most 
faithfully do honor to his memory. I have now a vast 
treasure of his conversation, at different times, since the 
year 1762, when I first obtained his acquaintance ; and, 
by assiduous inquiry, I can make up for not knowing 
him sooner.'* 

A Newcastle ship-master, who happened to be in 
the house, intruded himself upon us. He was much 
in liquor, and talked nonsense about his being a man 
for Wilkes and Liberty^ and against the ministry. Dr. 
Johnson was angry, that '' a fellow should come into 
our company, who was fit for no company." He left 
us soon. 

Col returned from his aunt, and told us, she insist- 

And pale diseases^ and repining age ; 

Want, fear, and famine's unresisted rage ; 

Here toils and death, and death's half-brother, sleep. 

Forms terrible to view, their sentry keep. Drydex. 

* It is no small satisfaction to me to reflect, that Dr. Johnson read this, and, 
after being apprized of my intention, communicated to nae, at subsequent periods, 
many particulars of his life, which probably could not otherwise have been pre- 
served. 



# 



* 



300 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

ed that we should come to her house that night. He 
introduced to us Mr. Campbell, the Duke of Argyle's 
factor in Tyr-yi. He was a genteel, agreeable man. 
He was going to Inveraray, and promised to put letters 
into the post-offic^ for us. I now found that Dr. John- 
son's desire to get on the main land, arose from his 
anxiety to have an opportunity of conveying letters to 
his friends. 

, After dinner, we proceeded to Dr. M'Lean's which 
was about a mile from our inn. He was not at home, 
but we were received by his lady and daughter, who 
entertained us so well, that Dr. Johnson seemed quite 
happy. When we had supped, he asked me to give 
him some paper to write letters. I begged he would 
write sliort ones, and not expatiate, as we ought to set 
off early. He was irritated by this, and said, " What 
must be done ; must be done : the thing is past a joke." 
.— " Nay, sir, (said I,) write as much as you please; but 
do not blame me, if we are kept six days before we get 
to the main land. You were very impatient in the morn- 
ing : but no sooner do you find yourself in good quar- 
ters, than you forget that you are to move." I got him 
paper enough, and we parted in good humour. 

Let me now recollect whatever particulars I have 
omitted. — In the morning I said to him, before we 
landed at Tobermorie, "We shall see Dr. M'Lean, 
who has written the History of the M'Leans." — John- 
son. " I have no great patience to stay to hear the his- 
tory of the M'Leans. I would rather hear the History 
of the Thrales."— Whenon Mull, I said, " Well, sir, 
this is the fourth of the Hebrides that we have been 
upon. — Johnson. " Nay, we cannot boast of the number 
we have seen. We thought we should see many more. 
AVe thought of sailing about easily from island to 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 301 

island ; and so we should, had we come at a better sea- 
son ; but we, being wise men, thought it would be sum- 
mer all the year where we were. However, sir, we 
have seen enough to give us a pretty good notion of the 
system of insular hfe." — 

Let me not forget, that he sometimes amused him- 
self with very slight reading ; from which, however, his 
conversation shewed that he contrived to extract some 
benefit. At Captain McLean's he read a good deal in 
The Charmer, a collection of songs. 

Friday y 15th October. 

We this morning found that we could not proceed, 
there being a violent storm of wind and rain, and the 
rivers being impassable. When I expressed my dis- 
content at our confinement. Dr. Johnson said " Now 
that I have had an opportunity of writing to the main 
land, I am in no such haste." I was amused with his 
being so easily satisfied ; for the truth was, that the 
gentleman who was to convey our letters, as I was now 
informed, was not to set out for Inverarav for some 
time ; so that it was probable we. should be there as 
soon as he : however, I did not undeceive my friend, 
but suffered him to enjoy his fancy. 

Dr. Johnson asked, in the evening, to see Dr. 
M'Lean's books. He took down Willis de Anima 
Brutorum, and pored over it a good deal. 
* Miss M'Lean produced some Erse poems by John 
M'Lean, who was a famous bard in Mull, and had 
died only a few years ago. He could neither read nor 
write. She read and translated two of them ; one, a 
kind of elegy on Sir John M'Lean's being obliged to 
fly his country in 1715; another, a dialogue between 



302 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

two Roman Catholick young ladies, sisters, whether it 
was better to be a nun or to marry. I could not perceive 
much poetical imagery in the translation. Yet all of our 
company who understood Erse, seemed charmed with 
the original. There may, perhaps, be some choice of 
expression, and some excellence of arrangement, that 
cannot be shewn in translation. 

After we had exhausted the Erse poems, of which 
Dr. Johnson said nothing, Miss M'Lean gave us several 
tunes on a spinnet, which, though made so long ago, as 
in 1667, was still very well toned. She sung along with 
it. Dr. Johnson seemed pleased with the musick, 
though he owns he neither likes it, nor has hardly any 
perception of it. At Mr. M'Pherson's, in Slate, he told 
us, that " he knew a drum from a trumpet, and a bag- 
pipe from a guittar, whicli was about the extent of his 
knowledge of musick." To-night he said, that, "if 
he had learnt musick, he should have been afraid he 
would have done nothing else but play. It was a method 
of employing the mind, without the labour of thinking 
at all, and with some applause from a man's self." 

We had the musick of the bagpipe every day, at 
Armidale, Dunvegan, and Col. Dr. Johnson appeared 
fond of it, and used often to stand for some time with 
his ear close to the great drone. 

The penurious gentleman of our acquaintance, for- 
merly alluded to, afforded us a topick of conversation to- 
night. Dr. Johnson said, I ought to write down a col- 
lection of the instances of his narrowness, as they al- 
most exceeded belief. Col told us, that O'Kane, the 
famous Irish harper, was once at that gentleman's house. 
He could not find in his heart to give him any money, 
but gave him a key for a harp, which was finely orna- 
mented vvdth gold and silver, and with a precious stone, 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 303 

and was worth eighty or a hundred guineas. He did 
not know the value of it ; and when he came to know 
it, he would fain have had it back ; but O'Kane took 
care that he should not. — Johnson. — " They exaggerate 
the value ; every body is so desirous that he should be 
fleeced. I am very willing it should be worth eighty or 
a hundred guineas ; but I do not believe it." Boswell. 
" I do not think O'Kane was obliged to give it back." — 
Johnson. " No, sir. If a man with his eyes open, and 
without any means used to deceive him, gives me a 
thing, lam not to let him have it again when he grows 
wiser. I like to see how avarice defeats itself: how, 
when avoiding to part with money, the miser gives 
something more valuable." — Col said, the gentleman's 
relations were angry at his giving away the harp-key, 
for it had been long in the family. — Johnson. " Sir, he 
values a new guinea more than an old friend." 

Col also told us, that the same person having come 
up with a Serjeant and twenty men, working on the 
high road, he entered into discourse with the serjeant, 
and then gave him sixpence for the men to drink. The 
sergeant asked, " Who is this fellow ?" Upon being 
informed, he said, " If I had known who he was, I 
should have thrown it in his face." — Johnson. " There 
is much want of sense in all this. He had no business 
to speak with the serjeant. He might have been in 
haste, and trotted on. He has not learnt to be a miser : I 
believe we must take him apprentice." — Boswell. *' He 
would grudge giving half a guinea to be taught." — 
Johnson. " Nay, sir, you must teach him gratis. You 
must give him an opportunity to practice your pre- 
cepts." 

Let me now go back, and glean Johnsoniana. — The 
Saturday before we sailed from Slate, I sat awhile in 



304 JOURNAL OF A TOUR _ 

m 

the afternoon with Dr. Johnson in his room, in a quiet 
serious frame. I observed, that hardly any man was 
accurately prepared for dying ; but almost every one 
left something undone, something in confusion ; that 
my father, indeed, told me he knew one man, (Car- 
lisle of Limekilns,) after whose death all his papers 
were found in exact order ; and nothing was omitted in 
his will. — Johnson. "Sir, I had an uncle who died so ; 
but such attention requires great leisure, and great firm- 
ness of mind. If one was to think constantly of death, 
the business of life would stand still. I am no friend 
to making religion appear too hard. Many good people 
have done harm, by giving severe notions of it. In the 
same way, as to learning : I never frighten young peo- 
ple with difficulties ; on the contrary, I tell them that 
they may very easily get as much as will do very well. 
I do not indeed tell them that they will be Bentleys. 

The night we rode to Col's house, I said, " Lord 
Elibank is probably wondering what is become of us.'* 
— Johnson. " No, no ; he is not thinking of us." — Bos- 
■well. " But recollect the warmth with which he wrote. 
Are we not to believe a man, when he says that he has a 
great desire to see another ? Don't you believe that I 
was very impatient for your coming to Scotland ?" — 
Johnson. " Yes, sir ; I believe, you were ; and I was 
impatient to come to you. A young man feels so, 
but seldom an old man." I however convinced him 
that Lord Elibank, who has much of the spirit of a 
young man, might feel so. — He asked me if our jaunt 
had answered expectation. I said it had much exceed- 
ed it. I expected much difficulty with him, and had not 
found it. " And (he added) wherever we have come, 
we have been received like princes in their progress.^' 

He said, he would not wish not to be disgusted in 



g. TO THE HEBRIDES. 305 

the Highlands; for that would be to lose the power of 
distinguishing, and a man might then lie down in the 
middle of them. He wished only to conceal his disgust. 

At Captain M'Lean's, I mentioned Pope's friend, 
Spence. — Johnson. "He was a weak conceited man." — 
Boswell. " A good scholar, sir?" — Johnson. "Why, 
no, sir." — Bosxvell. " He was a pretty scholar." — John- 
son. " You have about reached him." 

Last night at the inn, when the factor in Tyr-yi spoke 
of his having heard that a roof was put on some part of 
the buildings at Icolmkill, I unluckily said, " It will be 
fortunate if we find a cathedral with a roof on it." I 
said this from a foolish anxiety to engage Dr. Johnson's 
curiosity more. He took me short at once. " What, 
sir ? how can you talk so ? If we shall ^/zc/ a cathedral 
roofed ! as if we were going to a terra incognita : when 
every thing that is at Icolmkill is so well known. You 
are like some New-England-men who came to the 
mouth of the Thames. ' Come, (said they,) let us go 
up and see what sort of inhabitants there are here.' They 
talked, sir, as if they had been to go up the Susquehanna, 
or anv other American river." 

Saturday, \&th October. 

This day there was a new moon, and the weather 
changed for the better. Dr. Johnson said of Miss 
M'Lean, " She is the most accomplished lady that I 
have found in the Highlands. She knows French, mu- 
sick, and drawing, sews neatly, makes shelLwork, and 
can milk cows ; in short, she can do every thing. She 
talks sensibly, and is the first person whom I have found 
that can translate Erse poetry literally." — We set out, 
mounted on little Mull horses. Mull corresponded ex- 

R r 



306 JOURNAL OF A TOUR , ^ 

actly with the idea which I had always had of it ; a hilly 
country, diversified with heath and grass, and many ri- 
vulets. Dr. Johnson was not in very ^ood humour. 
He said, it was a dreary country, much worse than Sky. 
I difibred from him. " O, sir, (said he,) a most dolo- 
rous country !" 

We had a very hard j(jurncy to-day. 1 had no bri- 
dle for my sheltie, but only a halter ; and Josepli rode 
without a saddle. At one place, a loch havinjy swelled 
over the road, we were obliged to plunge through pretty 
dec|) water. Dr. Johnson ojjserved, how helpless a man 
would be, were he travelling here alone, and should meet 
with any accident ; and said, " he longed to get to a 
country of saddles and bridlfs.'^'' He was more out of 
humour today, than he has been in the course of our 
Tour, being fretted to lind that his little horse could 
scarcely support his weight; — and having suffered a 
loss, which, though small in itself, was of some conse- 
quence to him, while travelling the rugged steeps of 
Mull, where he was at times obliged to walk. The loss 
that I allude to was that of the large oak-stick, which, 
as I formerly mentioned, he had brought with him from 
London. It was of great use to him in our wild pere- 
grination ; for, ever since his last illness in 17GG, he 
has had a weakness in his knees, and has not been able 
to walk easily. It had too the properties of a measure ; 
for one nail was driven into it at the length of a foot ; 
another at that of a yard. In return for the services it 
had done him, he said, this morning, he would make a 
present of it to some Museum ; but he little thought he 
was so soon to lose it. As he preferred riding with a 
switch, it was entrusted to a iellow to be delivered to 
our l)aggage-man, who followed us at some distance ; 
but we never saw it more. I could not persuade him 



^ TO THE HEBRIDES. 307 

«ut of a suspicion that it had been stolen. " No, no, 
my friend, (said he,) it is not to Ije cxi)ccted that any 
man in Mull, who has got it, will part with it. Consi- 
der, sir, the value of such a piece of timher \\cv(^ !" 

As we travelled this forenoon, we met Dr. M'Lean, 
who expressed much regret at his having been so un- 
fortunate as to be absent while we were at his house. 

We were in hopes to get to Sir Allen Maclean's, at 
Inchkenneth, to-night ; but the eight miles, of which 
our road was said to consist, were so very long, that we 
did not reach the opposite coast of Mull till seven at 
night, though we had set out about eleven in the fore- 
noon ; and when we did arrive there, wc found the wind 
strong against us. Col determined t'lat we should pass 
the night at M'Quarrie's in the island of Ulva, which 
lies between Mull and Inchkenneth ; and a servant was 
sent forward to the ferry, to secure the boat for us : but 
the boat was gone to the Ulva side, and the wind was 
so high that the people could not hear him call ; and 
the night so dark that they could not see a signal. Wc 
should have been in a very bad situation, had there not 
fortunately been lying in the litde sound of Ulva an 
Irish vessel, the Bonnctta, of Londonderry, Captain 
M'Lurc, master. He himself was at M'Quarrie's ; but 
his men obligingly came with their long-boat, and ferried 
U9 over. 

M'Quarrie's house was mean ; but wc were agreea- 
bly surprised with the ap|)carance of the master, whom 
wc found to be intelligent, polite, and much a man of 
the world. Though his clan is not numerous, he is a 
very ancient Chief, and has a l)urial |)la(-e at I(:f)lmkill. 
lie told us, his family had possessed Ulva for nine hun- 
dred years ; but I was distressed to hear that it was 
soon to be sold for payment of his debts. 



308 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

It 

Captain M'Lure,whom we found here, was of Scotch 
extraction, and properly a M'Leod, being descended of 
some of the M'Leods who went with Sir Normand of 
Bernera to the battle of Worcester ; and, after the die- 
feat of the royalists, fled to Ireland, and, to conceal them- 
selves, took a different name. He told me, there was a 
great number of them about Londonderry ; some of 
good property. I said, they should now resume their 
real name. The Laird of M'Leod should go over, and 
assemble them, and make them all drink the large horn 
full, and from that time they should be M'Leods. — 
The Captain informed us, he had named his ship the 
Bonnetta, out of gratitude to Providence ; for once, 
when he was sailing to America with a good number of 
passengers, the ship in which he then sailed was be- 
calmed for five weeks, and during all that time numbers 
of the fish Bonnetta swam close to her, and were caught 
for food ; he resolved therefore that the ship he should 
next get, should be called the Bonnetta. 

M'Quarrie told us a strong instance of the second 
sight. He had gone to Edinburgh, and taken a man- 
servant along with him. An old woman, who was in 
the house, said one day, " M'Quarrie will be at home 
to-morrow, and will bring two gentlemen with him ;" 
and she said, she saw his servant return in red and 
green. He did come home next day. He had two 
gentlemen with him ; and his servant had a new red and 
green livery, which M'Quarrie had bought for him at 
Edinburgh, upon a sudden thought, not having the 
least intention when he left home to put his servant in 
livery ; so that the old woman could not have heard any 
previous mention of it. This, he assured us, was a 
true story. 

M'Quarrie insisted that the Mercheta Mulierum, , 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 509 

mentioned in our old charters, did really mean the pri- 
vilege which a lord of a manor, or a baron, had, to have 
the first night of all his vassals' wives. Dr. Johnson 
said, the belief of such a custom having existed was 
also held in England, where there is a tenure called 
Borough- English, by which the eldest child does not 
inherit, from a doubt of his being the son of the tenant.* 
M'Quarrie told us, that still on the marriage of each of 
his tenants a sheep is due to him ; for which the com- 
position is fixed at five shillings. I suppose, Ulva is 
the only place where this custom remains. 

Talking of the sale of an estate of an ancient family, 
which was said to have been purchased much under its 
value by the confidential lawyer of that family, and it 
being mentioned that the sale would probably be set 
aside by a suit in equity. Dr. Johnson said, " I am 
very willing that this sale should be set aside, but I 
doubt much whether the suit will be successful ; for 
the argument for avoiding the sale is founded on vague 
and indeterminate principles, — as that the price was too 
low, and that there was a great degree of confidence 
placed by the seller in the person who became the pur- 
chaser. Now, how low should a price be ? or what 
degree of confidence should there be to make a bar- 
gain be set aside ? a bargain, which is a wager of skill 
.between man and man. — If, indeed, any fraud can be 
proved, that will do." 

When Dr. Johnson and I were by ourselves at 
night, I observed of our host, " aspectum generosum ha- 
bet,'''' — '■^ et generosum animum,^^ he added.— For fear 
of being overheard in the small Highland houses, I 

* Sir William Blackstone says in his Commentaries, that "he cannot 
find that ever this custom prevailed in England,-' and therefos-e he is of opinion, 
that it could not have given rise to Borough- English. 



310 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

often talked to him in such Latin as I could speak, and 
with as much of the English accent as I could assume, 
so as not be understood, in case our conversation 
should be too loud for the space. 

We had each an elegant bed in the same room ; and 
here it was that a circumstance occurred, as to which 
he has been strangely misunderstood. From his descrip- 
tion of his chamber, it has erroneously been supposed, 
that, his bed being too short for him, his feet, during 
the night, were in the mire ; whereas he has only said, 
that> when he undressed, he felt his feet in the mire : 
that is, the clay-floor of the room, on which he stood 
before he went into bed, was wet, in consequence of 
the wmdows being broken, which let in the rain. 

Sunday^ 11 th October. 

Being informed that there was nothing worthy of 
observation in Uiva, we took boat, and proceeded to 
Inchkenneth, where we were introduced by, our friend 
Col to Sir Allan M'Lean, the Chief of his clan, and to 
two young ladies, his daughters. Inchkenneth is a 
pretty little island, a mile long, and about half a mile 
broad, all good land. 

As we walked up from the shore, Dr. Johnson*s 
heart was cheered by the sight of a road marked with 
cart-wheels, as on the main land ; a thing which we had 
not seen for a long time. It gave us a pleasure similar 
to that which a traveller feels, when, whilst wandering 
on what he fears is a desert island, he perceives the 
orint of human feet. 

Military men acquire excellent habits of having all 
conveniencies about them. Sir Allan M'Lean, who 
had been long in the army, and had now a lease of the 



Ttir'THE HEBRIDES. 311 

island, had formed a commodious habitation, though 
it consisted but of a few small buildings, only one 
story high. He had in his little apartments, more 
things than I could enumerate in a page or two. 

Among other agreeable circumstances, it was not 
the least, to find here a parcel of the Caledonian Mer- 
cury, published since we left Edinburgh ; which I 
read with that pleasure which every man feels who has 
been for some time secluded from the animated scenes 
of the busy world. 

Dr. Johnson found books here. He bade me buy 
Bishop GastrelPs Christian Institutes, which was lying 
in the room. He said, " I do not like to read any 
thing on a Sunday, but what is theological ; not that I 
would scrupulously refuse to look at any thing which 
a friend should shew me in a news-paper ; but in gene- 
ral, I would read only what is theological, — I read just 
now some of Drummond's Travels, before I perceived 
what books were here. I then took up Derham's 
Phy sico- Theology. 

Every particular concerning this island having been 
so well described by Dr. Johnson, it would be super- 
fluous in me to present the publick with the observations 
that I made upon it, in my journal. 

I was quite easy with Sir Allen almost instanta- 
neously. He knew the great intimacy that had been 
between my father and his predecessor, Sir Hector, 
and was himself of a very frank disposition. — After 
dinner, Sir Allen said he had got Dr. Campbell about 
an hundred subscribers to his Britannia Elucidata, (a 
work since published under the title o^A Political Sur- 
vey of Great Britain^ of whom he believed twenty 
were dead, the publication having been so long delayed. 
— Johnson, " Sir, I imagine the delay of publication is 






312 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

owing to this ; — that, after publication, there will be no 
more subscribers, and few will send the additional gui- 
nea to get their books : in which they will be wrong ; 
for there will be a greal deal of instruction in the work, 
I think highly of Campbell. In the first place, he has 
very good parts. In the second place, he has very ex- 
tensive reading ; not, perhaps, what is properly called 
learning, but history, politicks, and in short, that popu- 
lar knowledge which makes a man very useful. In the 
third place, he has learned much by what is called the 
Vox viva. He talks with a great many j^eople." 

Speaking of this gentleman, at Rasay, he told us, 
that he one day called on him, and they talked of TuWs 
Husbandry. Dr. Campbell said something. Dr. John- 
son began to dispute it. " Come, said Dr. Campbell, 
we do not want to get the better of one another : we 
want to increase each others ideas." — Dr. Johnson took 
it in good part, and the conversation then went on coolly 
and instructively. — His candour in relating this anec- 
dote does him much credit, and his conduct on that oc- 
casion proves how easily he could be persuaded to talk 
from a better motive than " for victory." 

Dr. Johnson here shewed so much of the spirit of a 
Highlander, that he won Sir Allan's heart : indeed, he 
has shewn it during the whole of our Tour. — One night 
in Col, he strutted about the room with a broad sword 
and target, and made a formidable appearance ; and, 
another night, I took the liberty to put a large blue bon- 
net on his head. His age, his size, and his bushy grey 
wig, with this covering on it, presented the image of a 
venerable Senachi : and, however unfavourable to the 
Lowland Scots, he seemed much pleased to assume the 
appearance of an ancient Caledonian. We only regret- 
ted that he could not be prevailed with to partake of the 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 



3i: 



social glass. One of his arguments against drinking, 
appears to me not convincing. He urged, that, " in 
proportion as drinking makes a man different from ^hat 
he is before he^as drunk, it is bad ; because it has so 
far affected his reason."- — But may it not be answered, 
that a man may be altered by it^or the better ; that his 
spirits may be exhilarated, without his reason being af- 
fected ? On the general subject of drinking, however, 
I do not mean positively to take the other side. I am 
dubius, non improbus. 

In the evening, Sir Allan informed us that it was the 
custom of his house to have prayers every Sunday ; and 
Miss M'Lean read the evening service, in which we all 
joined. I then read Ogden's second and ninth Ser- 
mons on Prayer, which, with their other distinguished 
excellence, have the merit of being short. Dr. John- 
son said, that it was the most agreeable Sunday he had 
ever passed ; and it made such an impression on his 
mind, that he afterwards wrote the following Latip 
verses upon Inchkenneth : 



""^-v 



Insula Sancti Kennethi. 

P^a quidem legio, sed re|lig-ione priorum 

Nota, Caledonias pan^ti^ur inSt aquas ; 
Voce ubi Cennethus populos domuisse leroces 

Dicitur, et vanos dedocuisse deos. 
Hue ego delatus placido per coerula cursu 

Scire locum volui quid daret ille novi. 
Illic Leniades humili regnabat in aula, 

Leniades magnis nobilitatus avis: 
Una duas habuit casa cum genitore puellas, 

Quas Amor undarum fingeret esse deas : 
Non tamen inculti gelidis latuere sub antris, 

Accola Danubii qualia saevus habet ; 
MoUia non deerant vacuae solatia vitae, 

Sive libros poscant otia, sive lyram. 

S S 



♦ 

3H JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

Luxerat ilia dies, legis gens docta supernsc 

Spes hominum ac curas cum procul esse jubet^ 
Pond inter strepitus sacri non rrmnera cultus 

Cessarunt ; pietas hie quoque cura fuit : 
Quid quod sacrifici versavit femina libvosj, 

Legitinias faciunt pectora pura preces. 
Quo vagor ulteiius ? quod ubique requivitur hie est ; 

Hie secura quies, hie et honestus amor. 

Monday J 18 th October. 

We agreed to pass this day with Sir Allan, and he 
engaged to have every thing in order for our voyage to- 
morrow. 

Being now soon to be separated from our amiable 
friend young Col, his merits were all remembered. At 
Ulva he had appeared in a new character, having given 
us a good prescription for a cold. On my mentioning 
him with warmth, Dr. Johnson said, " Col does every 
thing for us : we will erect a statue to Col." — " Yes, 
said I, and we will have him with his various attributes 
and characters, like Mercury, or any other of the hea- 
then gods. We will have him as a pilot; we will have 
him as a fisherman, as a hunter, as a husbandm^, as a 
physician." 

I this morning took a spade, and dug a little grave 
in the floor of a ruined chapel near Sir Allan M'Lean's 
house, in which I buried some human bones I found 
there. Dr. Johnson praised me for what I had done, 
though he owned, he could not have done it. He 
shewed in the chapel at Rasay his horror at dead men's 
bones. He shewed it again at Col's house. In the 
Charter-room there was a remarkably large shin-bone, 
which was said to have been a bone of John Garve, one 



to tHE HEBRIDES. 315 

of the lairds. Dr. Johnson would not look at; but 
started away. 

At breakfast, I asked, " What is the reason that we 
are angry at a trader's having opulence ?" — Johnson. >< 
*' Why, sir, the reason is, (though I don't undertake to 
prove that there is a reason,) we see no qualities in trade 
that should entitle a man to superiority. We are not - 
angry at a soldier's getting riches, because we see that 
he possesses qualities which we have not. If a man re- 
turns from a battle, having lost one hand, and with the 
other full of gold, we feel that he deserves the gold; 
but we cannot think that a fellow, by sitting all day at a 
desk, is entitled to get above us." — Boswell. " But, sir, 
may we not suppose a merchant to be a man of an en- 
larged mind, such as Addison in the Spectator des- 
cribes Sir Andrew Freeport to have been?" — Johnson, 
" Why, sir, we may suppose any fictitious character. 
We may suppose a philosophical day-labourer, who is 
happy in reflecting that, by his labour, he contributes to 
the fertility of the earth, and to the support of his fellow- 
creatures ; but we find no such philosophical day- 
labourer. A merchant may, perhaps, be a man of an 
enlarged mind ; but there is nothing in trade connected 
with an enlarged mind." 

I mentioned that I had heard Dr. Solander say he 
was a Swedish Laplander. — Johnson. " Sir, I don't be- 
lieve he is a Laplander. The Laplanders are not much 
above four feet high. He is as tall as you ; and he has 
not the copper colour of a Laplander." — Boswell. " But 
what motive could he have to make himself a Lap- 
lander?" — Johnson. " Why, sir, he must either mean 
the word Laplander in a very extensive sense, or may 
mean a voluntary degradation of himself. ' For all my 
being the great man that you see me now, I was origi- 



316 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

nally a Barbarian ;' as if Burke should say, ' I came 
over a wild Irishman,' — which he might say in his pre- 
sent state of exaltation." 

Having expressed a desire to have an island like 
Inchkenneth, Dr. Johnson set himself to think what 
would be necessary for a man in such a situation. " Sir, 
I should build me a fortification, if I came to live here ; 
for, if you have it not, what should hinder a parcel of 
ruffians to land in the night, and carry off every thing 
you have in the house, which, in a remote country, 
would be more valuable than cows and sheep ? add to 
all this the danger of having your throat cut." — Bos- 
well. " I would have a large dog." — -Johnson. "So you 
may, sir ; but a large dog is of no use but to alarm." — 
He, however, I apprehend, thinks too lightly of the 
powerof that animal. I have heard him say, that he is 
afraid of no dog. " He would take him up by the hinder 
legs which would render him quite helpless, — and then 
knock his head against a stone, and beat out his brains." 
— Topham Beauclerk told me, that at his house in the 
country, two large ferocious dogs were fighting. Dr. 
Johnson looked steadily at them for a little while ; and 
then, as one would separate two little boys who are fool- 
ishly hurting each other, he ran up to them, and cuffed 
their heads till he drove them asunder. But few men 
have his intrepidity, Herculean strength, or presence of 
mind. Most thieves or robbers would be afraid to en- 
counter a mastiff. 

I observed, that, when young Col talked of the lands 
belonging to his family, he always said, " ?;2y lands." 
For this he had a plausible pretence ; for he told me, 
there has been a custom in this family, that the laird re- 
signs the estate to the eldest son when he comes of age, 
reserving tohimself only a certain life-rent. He said, it was 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 317 

a voluntary custom ; but I think I found an instance in 
the charter-room that there was such an obligation in a 
contract of marriage. If the custom was vohuitary, it 
was only curious ; but if founded on obligation, it might 
be danp-erous ; for I have been told, that in Otaheit6, 
whenever a child is born, (a son, I think,) the father loses 
his right to the estate and honours, and that this unnatu- 
ral, o' richer' absurd custom, occasions the murder of 
many ciiildren. 

Young Col told us he could run down a greyhound ; 
" for, (s lid he,) the dog runs himself out of breath, by 
going too quick, and then I get up with him." I ac- 
counted for his advantage over the dog, by remarking 
that Col had the faculty of reason, and knew how to mo- 
derate his pace, which the dog had not sense enough to 
do. Dr. Johnson said, " He is a noble animal. He is 
as complete an islander as the mind can figure. He is a 
farmer, a sailor, a hunter, a fisher : he will run you 
down a dog : if any man has a tail, it is Col. He is 
hospitable ; and he has an intrepidity of talk, whether 
he understands the subject or not. I regret that he is 
not more intellectual." 

Dr. Johnson observed, that there was nothing of 
which he would not undertake to persuade a French- 
man in a foreign country. " I'll carry a Frenchman to 
St. Paul's Church-yard, and I'll tell him, 'by our law, 
you may walk half round the church ; but, if you walk 
round the whole, you will be punished capitally :' and 
he will believe me at once. Now, no Englishman 
would readily swallow such a thing : he would go and 
inquire of somebody else," — The Frenchman's credu- 
lity, I observed, must be owing to his being accustom- 
ed to implicit subralission ; whereas every Englishman 



318 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

reasons upon the laws of his country, and instructs his 
representatives, who compose the legislature. 

This day was passed in looking at a small island 
adjoining Inchkenneth, which afforded nothing worthy 
of observation ; and in such social and gay entertain- 
ments as our little society could furnish. 

Tuesday y \9th October. 

After breakfast we took leave of the young ladies, 
and of our excellent companion Col, to whom we had 
been so much obliged. He had now put us under the 
care of his Chief; and was to hasten back to Sky. 
We parted from him with very strong feelings of kind- 
ness and gratitude ; and we hoped to have had some 
future opportunity of proving to him the sincerity of 
what we felt; but in the following year he was un- 
fortunately lost in the Sound between Ulva and Mull ; 
and this imperfect memorial, joined to the high honour 
of being tenderly and respectfully mentioned by Dr. 
Johnson, is the only return which the uncertainty of 
human events has permitted us to make to this deserv- 
in a: vounsf man. 

Sir Allan, who obligingly undertook to accompany 
us to Icoimkill, had a strong good boat, with four stout 
rowers. We coasted along Mull till we reached Gri- 
boTij where is what is called Mackinnon's cave, com- 
pared with which that at Ulinish is inconsiderable. 
It is in a rock of a great height close to the sea. Upon 
the left of its entrance there is a cascade, almost perpen- 
dicular from the top to the bottom of the rock. There 
is a tradition that it was conducted thither artificially, to 
supply the inhabitants of the cave with water. Dr. 
Johnson gave no credit to this tradition. As, on the 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 319 

one hand, his faith in the Christian reHgion is firmly 
founded upon good grounds ; so, on the other, he is 
incredulous when there is no sufficient reason for be- , 
lief; being in this respect just the reverse of modern in- 
fidels, who, however nice and scrupulous in weighing 
the evidences of religion, are yet often so ready to be- 
lieve the most absurd and improbable tales of another 
nature, that Lord Hailes well observed, a good essay 
might be written Sur la credulite des Incredules. 

The height of this cave I cannot tell with any tole- 
rable exactness : but it seemed to be very lofty, and to 
be a pretty regular arch. We penetrated, by candle- 
light, a great way ; by our measurement, no less than 
four hundred and eighty-five feet. Tradition says, that 
a piper and twelve men once advanced into this cave, 
nobody can tell how far ; and never returned. At the 
distance to which we proceeded the air was quite pure; 
for the candle burned freely, without the least appear- 
ance of the flame growing globular ; but as we had 
only one, wc thought it dangerous to venture further, 
lest, should it have been extinguished, we should have 
had no means of ascertaining whether we could remain 
without danger. Dr. Johnson said, this was the great- 
est natural curiosity he had ever seen. 

We saw the island of StafFa, at no very great dis- 
tance, but could not land upon it, the surge was so high 
on its rocky coast. 

Sir Allan, anxious for the honour of Mull, was still 
talking of its rvoods, and pointing them out to Dr. John- 
son, as appearing at a distance on the skirts of that 
island, as we sailed along. — Johnson. " Sir, I saw at 
Tobermorie what they called a wood, which I unlucki- 
ly took for heath. If you shew me what I shall take 
iorfurze^ it will be something." 



i20 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

In the afternoon we went ashore oil the coast of 
Mull, and partook of a cold repast, which we carried 
with us. We hoped to have procured some rum or 
brandy for our boatmen and servants, from a publick- 
house near where we landed ; but unfortunately a fune- 
ral a few days before had exhausted all their store. 
Mr. Campbell however, one of the Duke of Argyle's 
tacksmen, who lived in the neighbourhood, on receiv- 
ing a message from Sir Allan, sent us a liberal supply. 

We continued to coast along Mull, and passed by 
Nuns' Island, which, it is said, belonged to the nuns of 
Icolmkill, and from which, we were told, the stone for 
the buildings there was taken. As we sailed along by 
moon-light, in a sea somewhat rough, and often be- 
tween black and gloomy rocks. Dr. Johnson said, " If 
this be not roving among the Hebrides^ nothing is." — 
The repetition of words which he had so often previ- 
ously used, made a strong impression on my imagina- 
tion ; and by a natural course of thinking, led me to 
consider how our present adventures would appear to 
me at a future period. 

I have often experienced, that scenes through which 
a man had passed, improve by lying in the memory : 
they grow mellow. Acti labor es sunt jucundL This 
may be owing to comparing them with present listless 
ease. Even harsh scenes acquire a softness by length 
of time ; and some are like very loud sounds, which 
do not please, or at least do not please so much, till 
you are removed to a certain distance. They may be 
compared to strong coarse pictures, which will not bear 
to be viewed near. Even pleasing scenes improve by 
time, and seem more exquisite in recollection, than 
when they were present; if they have not faded to 
dimness in the memory. Perhaps, there is so much 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 321 

evil, in every human enjoyment, when present, — so 
much dross mixed with it, that it requires to be refin- 
ed by time ; and yet I do not see why time should not 
melt away the good and the evil in equal proportions ; 
—why the shade should decay, and the light remain in 
preservation. 

After a tedious sail, which, by our following various 
turnings of the coast of Mull, was extended to about 
forty miles, it gave us no small pleasure to perceive a 
light in the village at Icolmkill, in which almost all the 
inhabitants of the island live, close to where the ancient 
buildings stood. As we approached the shore, the 
tower of the cathedral, just discernible in the air, was a 
picturesque object. 

When we had landed upon the sacred place, which, 
as long as I can remember, I had thought on with vene- 
ration. Dr. Johnson and I cordially embraced. We had 
long talked of visiting Icolmkill ; and, from the lateness 
of the season,;., were at times very doubtful whether we 
should be able to effect our purpose. To have seen 
it, even alone, would have given me great satisfaction ; 
but the venerable scene was rendered much more pleas- 
ing by the company of my great and pious friend, who 
was no less affected by it than I was ; and who has de- 
scribed the impressions it should make on the mind, 
with such strength of thought, and energy of language, 
that I shall quote his words, as conveying my own sen- 
sations much more forcibly than I am capable of doing : 

" WE were now treading that illustrious Island, 
which was once the luminary of the Caledonian regions, 
whence savage clans and roving barbarians derived the 
benefits of knowledge, and the blessings of religion. 
To abstract the mind froni all local emotion would be 

T t 



322 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

impossible, if it were endeavoured, and would be foolish 
if it were possible. Whatever withdraws us from the 
power of our senses, whatever makes the past, the dis- 
tant, or the future, predominate over the present, ad- 
vances us in the dignity of thinking beings. Far from 
me, and from my friends, be such frigid philosophy as 
may conduct us indifferent and unmoved over any 
ground which has been dignified by wisdom, bravery, 
or virtue. That man is little to be envied, whose pa- 
triotism would not gain force upon the plain of Mara- 
thon^ or whose piety would not grow warmer among the 
ruins of lona .'"* 

Upon hearing that Sir Allan M'Lean was arrived, 
the inhabitants, who still consider themselves as the peo- 
ple of M'Lean, to whom the island formerly belonged, 
though the Duke of Argyle has at present possession of 
it, ran eagerly to him. 

We were accommodated this ni^ht in a large barn, 
the island affording no lodging that we should have liked 
so well. Some good hay was strewed at one end of it, 
to form a bed for us upon which we lay with our clothes 
on ; and we were furnished with blankets from the vil- 
lage. Each of us had a portmanteau for a pillow. When 
I awaked in the morning, and looked round me, I could 
not help smiling at the idea of the chief of the M 'Leans, 
the great English Moralist, and myself, lying thus ex- 
' tended in such a situation. 

* Had our Toor produced nothing else but this sublime passage, the wcVld 
must have acknowledged that it was not made in vain. The present respectable 
i^resident of the Royal Society was so much struck on reading it, that he clasped 
his hands ;i||gether, and remained for some time in an attitude of silent ad- 
miration, dif • 



-'41 



4 



TO THE HEBRIDES, 323 

Wednesday^ 20th October. 

Early in the morning we surveyed the remains of 
antiquity at this place, accompanied by an illiterate 
fellow, as Cicerone^ who called himself a descendant of 
a cousin of Saint Columba, the founder of the religious 
establishment here. As I knew that many persons had 
already examined them, and as I saw Dr. Johnson in- 
specting and measuring several of the ruins of which 
he has since given so full an account, my mind was qui- 
escent ; and T resolved to stroll among them at my ease, 
to take no trouble to investigate minutely, and only re- 
ceive the general impression of solemn antiquity, and 
the particular ideas of such objects as should of them- 
selves strike my attention. 

We walked from the monastery of Nuns to the great 
church or cathedral, as they call it, along an old broken 
causeway. They Jold us, that this had been a street ; 
and that therfe were good houses built on each side. Dr. 
Johnson doubted if it was any thing more than a paved 
road for the nuns. The convent of Monks, the great 
church, Oran's chapel, and four other chapels, are still 
to be discerned. But I must own that Icolmkill did not 
answer my expectations ; for they were high, from what 
I had read of it, and still more from what I had heard 
and thought of it, from my earliest years. Dr. Johnson 
said, it came up to his expectations, because he ha^l 
taken his impression from an account of it subjoined to 
Sacheverel's History of the Isle of Man, where it is said, 
there is not much to be seen here. We were both 
disappointed, when we were shewn what are called the 
monuments of the kings of Scotland, Ireland and Den- 
mark, and of a king of France. There are only some 
grave-stones flat on the earth, and we could see no in- 



% 



324 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

scriptioHS, How far short was this of marble monu- 
ments, like those in Westminster-Abbey, which I 
had imagined here ! The grave- stones of Sir Allan 
M'Lean's famity, and of that of M'Quarrie, had as 
good an appearance as the royal grave-stones ; if they 
were royal, we doubted. 

My easiness to give credit to what I heard in the 
course of our Tour was too great. Dr. Johnson's pecu- 
liar accuracy of investigation detected much traditional 
fiction, and many gross mistakes. It is not to be won- 
dered at, that he was provoked by people carelessly tell- 
ing him, with the utmost readiness and confidence, what 
he found, on questioning them a little more, was errone- 
ous. Of this there were innumerable instances. 

I left him and Sir Allan at breakfast in our barn, and 
stole back again to the cathedral, to indulge in solitude 
and devout meditation. While contemplating the ve- 
nerable ruins, I reflected with much satisfaction, that 
the solemn scenes of piety never lose their sanctity and 
influence, though the cares and follies of life may pre- 
vent us from visiting them, or may even make us fancy 
that their effects are only '* as yesterday, when it is past," 
and never again to be perceived. I hoped, that, ever 
after having been in this holy place, I should maintain 
an exemplary conduct. One has a strange propensity 
to fix upon some point of time from whence a better 
course of life may begin. 

Being desirous to visit the opposite shore of the 
island, where Saint Columba is said to have landed, I 
procured a horse from one M'GinniSj who ran along as 
my guide. The M'Ginnises are said to be a branch of 
the clan of M'Lean. Sir Alhm had been told that this 
man had refused to send him some rum, at which the 
knight was in great indignation. " You rascal ! (said 

t 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 325 

he,) don't you know that I can hang you, if I please ?" 
— Not adverting to the Chieftain's power over his clan, I 
imagined that Sir Allan had known of some capital crime 
that the fellow had committed, which he could disco- 
ver, and so get him condemned ; and said, "How so?" 
■ — "Why, (said sir Allan,) are they not all my people ?" 
— Sensible of my inadvertancy, and most willing to con- 
tribute what I could towards the continuation of feudal 
authority. " Very true," said I. — Sir Allan went on r 
" Refuse to send rum to me, you rascal! Don't you 
know that, if I order you to go and cut a man's throat, 
}''Ou are to do it?" — " Yes, an't please your honour ! 
and my oAvntoo, and hang myself too." — The poor fel- 
low denied that he had refused to send the rum. His 
making these professions was not merely a pretence in 
presence of his Chief ; for after he and I were out of 
Sir Allan's hearing, he told me, " Had he sent his dog 
for the rum, I would have given it : I would cut my 
bones for him.'*-^ — It was very remarkable to find such 
an attachment to a Chief, though he had then no con- 
nection with the island, and had not been there for four- 
teen years. — Sir Allan, by way of upbraiding the fellow, 
said, " I believe you are a CamphelV 

The place which I went to see is about two miles 
from the village. They call it P or ta-wherry, from the 
wherry in which Columba came ; though, when they 
shew the length of his vessel, as marked on the beach 
by two heaps of stones, they say, " Here is the length 
of the Currach,'''' using the Erse word. 

Icolmkill is a fertile island. The inhabitants export 
some cattle and grain ; and, I v/as told, they import 
nothing but iron and salt. They are industrious, and 
make their own woollen and linen cloth ; and thev brew 



326 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

a good deal of beer, which we did not find in any of the 
other islands. 

We set sail again about mid-day, and in the even- 
ing landed on Mull, near the house of the Reverend Mr. 
Neil M'Leod,who, having been informed of our coming, 
by a message from Sir Allan, came out to meet us. We 
were this night very agreeably entertained at his house. 
Dr. Johnson observed to me, that he was the cleanest- 
headed man that he had met with in the Western islands. 
He seemed to be well acquainted with Dr. Johnson's 
writings, and courteously said, " I have been often 
obliged to you, though I never had the pleasure of see- 
ing you before." 

He told us, he had lived for some time in St. Kilda, 
under the tuition of the minister or catechist there ; and 
had there first read Horace and Virgil. The scenes 
which they describe must have been a strong contrast 
to the dreary waste around him. 

Thursday^ 'ULYst October. 

This morning the subject of politicks was intro- 
duced. — Johnson. " Pulteney was as paltry a fellow as 
could be. He was a Whig, who pretended to be honest; 
and you know it is ridiculous for a Whig to pretend to 
be honest. He cannot hold it out." — He called Mr. 
Pitt a meteor ; Sir Robert Walpole a fixed star. — He 
said, " It is wonderfulto think that all the force of go- 
vernment was required to prevent Wilkes from being 
chosen the chief magistrate of London, though the li- 
verymen knew he would rob their shops, — knew he 
would debauch their daughters,* 

* I think it incumbent on me to make so;T)e observation on this strong sati- 
rlcal sally on my classical coi-npanion, Mr. Wilkes. Reporting it lately from 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 327 

Boswell. " The History of England is so strange, 
that, if it were not so well vouched as it is, it would 
hardlv be credible." — Johnson. " Sir, if it were told as 
shortly, and with as little preparation for introducing 
the different events, as the History of the Jewish Kings, 
it would be equally liable to objections of improbabili- 
ty." — Mr. M'Leod was much pleased with the justice 
and novelty of the thought. — Dr. Johnson illustrated 
what he had said, as follows : " Take, as an instance, 
Charles the First's concessions to his parliament, which 
were greater and greater, in proportion as the parliament 
grew more insolent, and less deserving of trust. Had 
these concessions been related nakedly, without any de- 
tail of the circumstances which generally led to them, 
they would not have been believed." ' 

Sir Allan M'Lean bragged, that Scotland had the ad- 
vantage of England, by its having more water. Johnson. 
" Sir, we would not have your water, to take the vile bogs 
which produce it. You have too much ! A man who 
is drowned has more water than either of us ;" — and 
then he laughed. — (But this was surely robust sophis- 



mpmpry, in his presence, I expressed it thus: — " They knew he would rob their 
shops, if he durst: they knew he would debauch their daughters, if he could;'" 
which according to the French phrase, may be said rencherir on Dr. Johnson; 
bat on^looking into my Journal, I found it as above, and would by no means 
make any addition. Mr. Wilkes received both readings with a good humour 
that I cannot enough admire. Indeed both he and I (as, with respect to myself, 
the reader has more than once had occasion to observe in the course of this Jour- 
nal,) are too fond of a bon-mot, not to relish it, though we should ourselves be 
the object of it. 

Let me add, in justice to the gentleman here mentioned, that at a subsequent 
period, he was elected chief magistrate of London, and discharged the duties of 
that high office with great honour to himself, and advantage to the city. — Some 
years before Dr. Johnson died, I was fortunate enoughiito bring him and Mr. 
Wilkes together; the consequence of which was, that they were ever afterwards 
on easy aiKl not unfriendly terms. The particulars I shall have great pleasure Ju 
relating at large in my Life of Dr. Joh^ison. 



S2S JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

■^ '«'fi 

try ; for the people of taste in England, who have seen 
Scotland, own that its variety of rivers and lakes makes 
it naturally more beautiful than England, in that res- 
pect.) — Pursuing his victory over Sir Allan, he pro- 
ceeded : " Your country consists of two things, stone 
and water. There is, indeed, a little earth above the 
stone in some places, but a very little ; and the stone is 
always appearing. It is like a man in rags ; the na- 
ked skin is still peeping out.'' 

He took leave of Mr. M'Leod, saying, " Sir, I 
thank you for your entertainment, and your conversa- 
tion." 

Mr. Campbell, who had been so polite yesterday, 
came this morning on purpose to breakfast with us, 
and very obligingly furnished us with horses to pro- 
ceed on our journey to Mr. M'Lean's of Lochbuy, 
where we v\'ere to pass the night. We dined at the 
house of Dr. Alexander M'Lean, another physician in 
Mull, who was so much struck with the uncommon 
conversation of Dr. Johnson, that he observed to me, 
" This man is just a hogshead of sense." 

Dr. Johnson said of the Turkish Spy^ which lay in 
the room, that it told nothing but what every body 
might have known at that time ; and that what was 
good in it, did not pay yoh for the trouble of reading to 
find it. 

After a very tedious ride, through what appeared 
to me the most gloomy and desolate country I had ever 
beheld, we arrived, between seven and eight o'clock, 
at Moy^ the seat of the Laird of Lochbuy. — Buy^ in 
Erse, signifies yellow, and I at first imagined that the 
loch or branch of the sea here, was thus denomina- 
ted, in the same manner as the Red Sea, but I after- 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 32^ 

wards learned that it derived its name from a hill 
above it, which, being of a yellowish hue, has the epi- 
thet of Buy. 

We had heard much of Lochbuy's being a great 
roaring braggadocio, a kind of Sir John Falstaff, both 
in size and manners; but we found that they had 
swelled him up to a fictitious size, and clothed him 
with imaginary qualities.— Col's idea of him was equal- 
ly extravagant, though very different : he told us, he 
was quite a Don Quixote ; and said, he would give a 
great deal to see him and Dr. Johnson together. The 
truth is, that Lochbuy proved to be only a bluff, come- 
\y, noisy old gentleman, proud of his hereditary con- 
sequence, and a very hearty and hospitable landlord. 
Lady Lochbuy was sister to Sir Allan M'Lean, but 
much older. He said to me, " They are quite Ante- 
diluvians:' Being told that Dr. Johnson did not hear 
well, Lochbuy bawled out to him, " Are you of the 
Johnstons of Glencro, or of Ardnamurchan ?" — Dr. 
Johnson gave him a significant look, but made no an- 
swer ; and I told Lochbuy that he was not Johns^ow, 
but Johnjo72, and that he was an Englishman. 

Lochbuy some years ago tried to prove himself a 
weak man, liable to imposition, or as Ave term it in Scot- 
land, a facile man, in order to set aside a lease which 
he had granted ; but failed in the attempt. On my 
mentioning this circumstance to Dr. Johnson, he seem- 
ed much surprised that such a suit was admitted by the 
Scottish law, and observed, that " in England no man 
is allowed to stultify himself"* 

Sir Allan, Lochbuy, and I, had the conversation 

* This maxim, however, hasbeea controverted. See Blackstone's Commen- 
1 ARIES, Vol. 11. p. 292 ; and the authorities there quoted. 

U U 



330 ^JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

chiefly to ourselves to-night : Dr. Johnson, being ex- 
tremely weary, went to bed soon after supper. 

Friday y 22d October. 

Before Dr. Johnson came to breakfast. Lady Loch- 
buy said, •'' he was a dungeon of wit ;" a very common 
phrase in Scotland to express a profoundness of intellect, 
though he afterwards told me, that he never had heard 
it. She proposed that he should have some cold Sheep's- 
head for breakfast. Sir Allan seemed displeased at his 
sister's vulgarity, and wondered how such a thought 
should come into her head. From a mischievous love 
of sport, I took the lady's part ; and very gravely said, 
*' I think it is but fair to give him an offer of it. If he 
does not choose it, he may let it alone." — " I think so," 
said the lady, looking at her brother with an air of vic- 
tory. Sir Allan, finding the matter desperate, strutted 
about the room, and took snuff. When Dr. Johnson 
came in, she called to him, " Do you choose any cold 
sheep's-head, sir?" — "No, Madam," said he, with a 
tone of surprise and anger. — " It is here, sir," said she, 
supposing he had refused it to save the trouble of bring- 
ing it in. They thus went on at cross purposes, til! 
he confirmed his refusal in a manner not to be misun- 
derstood ; while I sat quietly by, and enjoyed my suc- 
cess. 

After breakfast, we surveyed the old castle, in the 
pit or dungeon of which Lochbuy had some years be- 
fore taken upon him to imprison several persons ; and 
though he had been fined in a considerable sum by the 
Court of Justiciary, he was so little affected by it, that 
while we were examining the dungeon, he said to me, 
with a smile, " Your father knows something of this;" 






TO THE HEBRIDES. 33 i 

(alluding to my father's having sat as one of the judges 
on his trial.) Sir Allan whispered me, that the laird 
could not be persuaded, that he had lost his heritable 
jurisdiction. 

We then set out for the ferry, by which we were to 
cross to the main land of Argyleshire. Lochbuy and 
Sir Allan accompanied us. We were told much of a 
war-saddle, on which this reputed Don Quixote used 
to be mounted ; but we did not see it, for the young 
laird had applied it to a less noble purpose, having taken 
it to Falkirk fair with a drove of black cattle. 

We bade adieu to Lochbuy, and to our very kind 
conductor Sir Allan M'Lean, on the shore of Mull, and 
then got into the ferry-boat, the bottom of which was 
strewed with branches of trees or bushes, upon which 
we sat. We had a good day, and a fine passage, and 
in the evening landed at Oban, where we found a tole- 
rable inn. After having been so long confined at differ- 
ent times in islands, from which it was always uncertain 
when we could get away, it was comfortable to be now 
on the main land, and to know that, if in health, we 
might get to any place in Scotland or England in a cer» 
tain number of days. 

Here we discovered from the conjectures which 
were formed, that the people on the main land were en- 
tirely ignorant of our motions ; for in a Glasgow news- 
paper we found a paragraph, which, as it contains a just 
and well-turned compliment to my illustrious friend, I 
shall here insert : 

" We are well assured that Doctor Johnson is con- 
" fined by tempestuous weather to the isle of Sky ; it 
" being unsafe to venture, in a small boat upon such a 
" stormy surge as is very common there at this time of 
'^ the year. Such a philosopher, detained on an almost 



332 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

" barren island, resembles a whale left upon the. strand- 
" The latter will be welcome to every body, on account 
"of his oil, his bone, &c. and the other will charm 
" his companions, and the rude inhabitants, with his 
*' superior knowledge and wisdom, calm resignation, 
" and unbounded benevolence." 

- Saturday^ 23d Octobe?'. 

After a good night's rest, we breakfasted at our lei- 
sure. We talked of Goldsmith's Traveller, of which 
Dr. Johnson spoke highly ; and, while I was helping 
him on with his great coat, he repeated from it the 
character of the British nation, which he. did with such 
energy, that the tear started into his eye : 

" Stern o'er each bosom reason holds her state. 
" With daring aims irregularly great, 
" Pride in their port, defiance in their eye, 
" I see the lords of humankind pass by, 
" Intent on high designs, a thoughtful band, 
" By forms unfashion'd, fresh from nature's hand ; 
" Fierce in their native hardiness of soul, 
" True to imagin'd right, above control, 
" While ev'n the peasant boasts these rights to scan, 
" And learns to venerate himself as man." 

We could get but one bridle here, which, according 
to the maxim detur digniori, was appropriated to Dr. 
Johnson's sheltie. I and Joseph rode with halters. We 
crossed in a ferry-boat a pretty wide lake, and on tlie 
further side of it, close by the shore, found a hut for 
our inn. We were much wet. I clianged my clothes 
in part, and was at pains to get myself well dried. Dr. 
Johnson resolutely kept on all his clothes, wet as they 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 333 

were, letting them steam before the smoky turf fire. I 
thought him in the wrong ; but his firmness was, per» 
haps, a species of heroism. 

I remember but little of our conversation. I men- 
tioned Shenstone's saying of Pope, that he had the art 
of condensing sense more than any body. Dr. John- 
son said, " It is not true, sir. There is more sense in 
a line of Cowley than in a page (or a sentence, or ten 
lines, — I am not quite certain of the very phrase) of 
Pope." He maintained, that Archibald, Duke of 
Argyle, was a narrow man. I wondered at this ; and 
observed, that his building so great a house at Inveraray 
was not like a narrow man. " Sir, (said he,) when a 
narrow man has resolved to build a house, he builds it 
like another man. But Archibald, Duke of Argyle 
was narrow in his ordinary expences, in his quotidian 
expences." 

The distinction is very just. It is in the ordinary 
expences of life that a man's liberality or narrowness is 
to be discovered. — I never heard the word quotidian in 
this sense, and I imagined it to be a word of Dr. John- 
son's own fabrication ; but I have since found it in 
Toung^s Night Thoughts y (Night fifth,) 

"Death's a destroyer of quotidian prey," 

and in my friend's Dictionary, supported by the au- 
thorities of Charles I, and Dr. Donne. 

It rained very hard as we journeyed on after dinner. 
The roar of torrents from the mountains, as we passed 
alonsr in the dusk, and the other circumstances attend- 
ing our ride this evening, have been mentioned with so 
much animation by Dr. Johnson, that I shall not attempt 
to say any thing on the subject. 



334 K^UllNAL OF A TOUR 

We got at night to Inveraray, where we found an 
excellent inn. Even here, Dr. Johnson would not 
change his wet clothes. 

The prospect of good accommodation cheered us 
much. We supped well ; and after supper, Dr. John- 
son, whom I had not seen taste any fermented liquor 
during all our travels, called for a gill of whisky. 
" Come, (said he,) let me know what it is that makes a 
Scotchman happy !" He drank it all but a drop, which 
I begged leave to pour into my glass, that I might say 
we had drunk whisky together. I proposed Mrs. 
Thrale should be our toast. He would not have her 
drunk in whiskey, but rather " some insular lady ;" so 
we drank one of the ladies whom we had lately left. — 
He owned to-night, that he got as good a room and 
bed as at an English inn. 

I had here the pleasure of finding a letter from home, 
which relieved me from the anxiety I had suffered, jn 
consequence of not having received any account of my 
family for many weeks. I also found a letter from Mr. 
Garrick, which was a regale as agreeable as a pine- 
apple would be in a dessert. He had favoured me with 
his correspondence for many years ; and when Dr. 
Johnson and I were at Inverness, I had written to him 
as follows : 

:, ^ ir 1 o' Inverness, 

" My dear i5ir, Sunday, 29 August, 1773. 

" HERE I am, and Mr. Samuel Johnson actu- 
ally with me. We were a night at Fores, in coming 
to which, in the dusk of the evening, we passed over the 
bleak and blasted heath where Macbeth met the witches. 
Your old preceptor repeated, with much solemnity, the 
speech — 

« How far is't called to Fores? What are these, 
■r' So wither'd and so wild in their attire," Sec 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 335 

This day we visited the ruins of Macbeth's castle at 
Inverness. I have had great romantick satisfaction in 
seeing Johnson upon the classical scenes of Shakspeare 
in Scotland ; which I really looked upon as almost as im- 
probable as that * Birnam wood should come to Dunsi- 
nane.' Indeed, as I have always been accustomed to 
view him as a permanent London object, it would not 
be much more wonderful to me to see St. Paul's church, 
moving along where we now are. As yet we have tra- 
velled in post-chaises ; but to-morrow we are to mount 
^6n horseback, and ascend into the mountains by Fort 
Augustus, and so on to the ferry, where we are to cross 
to Sky. We shall see that island fully, and then visit 
some more of the Hebrides ; after which we are to land 
in Argyleshire, proceed by Glasgow to Auchinleck, re- 
pose there a competent time, and then return to Edin- 
burgh, from whence the Rambler will depart for old 
England again, as soon as he finds it convenient. Hi- 
therto, we have had a very prosperous expedition. I 
flatter myself, servetur ad imum, qualis ab incepto pro- 
cesserit. He is in excellent spirits, and I have a rich 
journal of his conversation. Look back Davy,^ to 
Lichfield, — run up through the time that has elapsed 
since you first knew Mr. Johnson, — and enjoy with me 
his present extraordinary Tour. I could not resist the 
impulse of writing to you from this place. The situa- 
tion of the old castle corresponds exactly to Shakspeare's 
description. While we were there to-day, it happened 
oddly, that a raven perched upon one of the chimney- 
tops, and croaked. Then I in my turn repeated — 

* I took the liberty of giving this familiar appellation to my celebrated friend, 
to bring in a more lively manner to his remembrance the period whea he was 
Dr. Johnson's plipil. 



336 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

" The raven himself is hoarse, 

*' That croaks the fatal enterance of Duncan, 

" Under my battlements." 

" I wish you had been with us. Think what en 
thusiastick happiness I shall have to see Mr. Samuel 
Johnson walking among the romantick rocks and woods 
of my ancestors at Auchinleck ! Write to me at Edin- 
burgh. You owe me his verses on great George and 
tuneful Gibber, and the bad verses which led him to 
make his fine ones on Philips the musician. Keep your 
promise, and let me have them. I offer my very best 
compliments to Mrs. Garrick, and ever am 

Your warm admirer and friend, 

" To David Garrick, Esq ; t t5 17 

^ James 15oswell. 

London. 

His answer was as follows : 

^' Dear Sir, Hampton,^Sept. 14, 

" YOU stole away from London, and left us 
all in the lurch ; for we expected you one night at the 
club, and knew nothing of your departure. Had I paid 
you what I owed you, for the book you bought for me, 
I should only have grieved for the loss of your company, 
and slept with a quiet conscience ; but, wounded as it 
is, it must remain so till I see you again, though I am 
sure our good friend Mr. Johnson will discharge the 
debt for me, if you will let him. — Your account of your 
journey to Fores, the raven, old castle, &c. &c. made 
me half mad. Are you not rather too late in the year 
for fine weather, which is the life and soul of seeing 
places? — I hope your pleasure will continue quails ah 
incepto, &:c. 

" Your friend threatens me much. I onlv 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 537 

wish that lie would put his threats in execution, and, if 
he prints his play, I will forgive him. I remember he 
complained to you, that his bookseller called for the 

money for some copies of his , which I subscribed 

for, and that I desired him to call again. — The truth is, 
that my wife was not at home, and that for weeks to- 
gether I have not ten shillings in my pocket. — However, 
had it been otherwise, it was not so great a crime to 
draw his poetical vengeance upon me. — 1 despise all 
that he can do, and am glad that I can so easily get rid 
of him and his ingratitude. — I am hardened both to 
abuse and ingratitude. 

" You, I am sure, will no more recommend your 
poetasters to my civility and good offices. 

Shall I recommend to you a Play of Eschylus, (the 
Prometheus,) published and translated by poor old Mo- 
rell, who is a good scholar, and an acquaintance of 
mine ? It will be but half a guinea, and your name shall 
be put in the list I am making for him. You will be 
in very good company. 

'• Now for the epitaphs ! 

\_These, together with the verses on George the Se- 
cond, and Colley Gibber^ as his Poet Laureat, of 
■which imperfect copies are gone about^ will appear 
in my Life of Dr. Johnson.'] 

" I have no more paper, or I should have said more 
to you. My love and respects to Mr. Johnson. 

" Yours ever, 



D. G 



ARRICK. 



" I can't write. I have the gout in my hand." 
" To James Boswdl, Esq. Edinburgh.''^ 



X X 



338 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

Sunday^ 24ith October. 

We passed the forenoon calmly and placidly. I 
prevailed on Dr. Johnson to read aloud Ogden's sixth 
Sermon on Prayer, which he did with a distinct expres- 
sion, and pleasing solemnity. He praised my favourite 
preacher, his elegant language, and remarkable acute- 
ness ; and said, he fought infidels with their own wea- 
pons. 

As a specimen of Ogden's manner, I insert the fol- 
lowing passage from the sermon which Dr. Johnson 
now read. The preacher, after arguing against that 
vain philosophy which maintains, in conformity with 
the hard principle of eternal necessity, or unchangeable 
predetermination, that the only effect of prayer for others, 
although we are exhorted to pray for them, is to pro- 
duce good dispositions in ourselves towards them ; thus 
expresses himself: 

" A plain man may be apt to ask, But if this then, 
" though enjoined in the holy scriptures, is to be my 
" real aim and intention, when I am taught to pray for 
" other persons, why is it that I do not plainly so ex- 
" press it ? Why is not tlie form of the petition brought 
*' nearer to the meaning ? Give them, say I to our 
" heavenly father, what is good. But this, I am to 
" understand, will be as it will be, and is not for me to 
" alter. What is it then that I am doing? I am de- 
'• siring to become charitable myself; and why may I 
" not plainly say so ? Is there shame in it, or impiety f 
" The wish is laudable : why should I form designs to 
" hide it ? 

" Or is it, perhaps, better to be brought about by 
" indirect means, and in this artful manner ? Alas I 
" who is it that I would impose on ? From whom can 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 339 

'' it be, ill this commerce, that I desire to hide any 
** thing ? When, as my Saviour commands me, I have 
^' entered into my closet^ and shut my door ^ there are but 
" two parties privy to my devotions, God and my ovi^n 
*' heart; which of the two am I deceiving V 

He wished to have more books, and, upon inquiring 
if there were any in the house, was told that a waiter 
had some, which were brought to him ; but I recollect 
none of them, except Hervey'^s Meditations. He 
thought slightingly of this admired book. He treated 
it with ridicule, and would not allow even the scene of 
the dying Husband and Father to be pathetick. I am 
not an impartial judge ; for Hervey'^s Meditations en- 
gaged my affections in my early years. — He read a pas- 
sage concerning the moon, ludicrously, and shewed 
how easily he could, in the same style, make reflections 
on that planet, the very reverse of Hervey's, represent- 
ing her as treacherous to mankind. He did this with 
much humour; but I have not preserved the particulars. 
He then indulged a playful fancy, in making a Medita- 
tion on a Puddings of which I hastily wrote down, in his 
presence, the following note ; which, though imperfect, 
may serve to give my readers some idea of it. 

Meditation on a Pudding. 
" LET us seriously reflect of what a pudding is 
composed. It is composed of flpur that once waved in 
the golden grain, and drank the dews of the morning ; 
of milk pressed from the swelling udder by the gentle 
hand of the beauteous milk-maid, whose beauty and in- 
nocence might have recommended a worse draught ; 
who, while she stroked the udder, indulged no ambitious 
thoughts of wandering in palaces, formed no plans for 
the destruction of her fellow-creatures : milk, which is 
drawn from the cow, that useful animal, that eats the 



340 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

grass of the field, and supplies us with that which made 
the greatest part of the food of mankind in the age 
which the poets have agreed to call golden. - It is made 
with an egg, that miracle of nature, which the theoretical 
Burnet has compared to creation. An Ggg contains 
water within its beautiful smooth surface ; and an un- 
formed mass, by the incubation of the parent, becomes 
a regular animal, furnished with bones and sinews, and 
covered with feathers. — Let us consider; can there be 
more wanting to complete the Meditation on a Pudding? 
If more is wanting, more may be found. It contains 
salt, which keeps the sea from putrefaction : salt, which 
is made the image of intellectual excellence, contri- 
butes to the formation of a pudding." 

In a Magazine I found a saying of Dr. Johnson's, 
something to this purpose ; that the happiest part of a 
man's life is what he passes h^ing awake in bed in the 
morning. I read it to him. He said, " I may perhaps, 
have said this ; for nobody, at times, talks more laxly 
than I do." I ventured to suggest to him, that this was 
dangerous from one of his authority. 

I spoke of living in the country, and upon what 
footing one should be with neighbours. I observed 
that some people were afraid of being on too easy a 
footing with them, from an apprehension that their time 
would not be their own. He made the obvious remark, 
that itdependeti much on what kind of neighbours one 
has, whether it was desirable to be on an easy footing 
with them, or not. I mentioned a certain baronet, who 
told me, he never was happy in the country, till he was 
not on speaking terms with his neighbours, which he 

contrived in different ways to bring about. ' ' Lord 

(said he) stuck along ; but at last the fellow 

pounded my pigs, and then I got rid of him." — Johnson. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 341 

" Nay, sir, My Lord got rid of Sir John, and shewed 
how little he valued him, by putting his pigs in the 
pound." 

I told Dr. Johnson I was in some difficulty how to 
act at Inveraray. I had reason to think that the Duchess 
of Argyle disliked me, on account of my zeal in the 
Douglas cause; but the Duke of Argyle had always 
been pleased to treat me with great civility. They 
were now at the castle, which is a very short walk from 
our inn ; and the question was, whether I should go 
and pay my respects there. Dr. Johnson, to whom I 
had stated the case, was clear that I ought ; but, in his 
usual way, he was very shy of discovering a desire to 
be invited there himself. Though, from a conviction 
of the benefit of subordination to society, he has always 
shewn great respect to persons of high rank, when he 
happened to be in their company, yet his pride of 
character has ever made him guard against any appear- 
ance of courting the great. Besides, he was impatient 
to go to Glasgow, where he expected letters. At the 
same time he M^as, I believe, secretly not unwilling to 
have attention paid him by so great a Chieftain, and so 
exalted a nobleman. He insisted that I should not go 
to the castle this day before dinner, as it would look 
like seeking an invitation. " But, (said I,) if the duke 
invites us to dine with him to-morrow, shall we accept ?" 
— " Yes, sir ;". I think he said, " to be sure." But, he 
added, " He won't ask us !" — I mentioned, that I was 
afraid my company might be disagreeable to the duchess. 
He treated this objection with a manly disdain : " That^ 
sir, he must settle with his wife." — We dined well. I 
went to the castle just about the time when I supposed 
the ladies would be retired from dinner. I sent in my 
name ; and, being shewn in, found the amiable duke 



342 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

sitting at the head of his table with several gentlemen. 
I was most poHtely received, and gave his grace some 
particulars of the curious journey which I had been 
makifig with Dr. Johnson. When we rose from table, 
the duke said to me, " I hope you and Dr. Johnson 
will dine with us to-morrow." I thanked his grace ; 
but told him, my friend was in a great hurrj^ to get back 
to London. The duke, with a kind complacency, said, 
" He will stay one day : and I will take care he shall 
see this place to advantage." I said, I should be sure 
to let him know his grace's invitation. — As I was going 
away, the duke said, " Mr. Boswell, won't you have 
some tea ?" — I thought it best to get over the meeting 
with the duchess this night ; so respectfully agreed. I 
was conducted to the drawing-room by the duke, who 
announced my name ; but the duchess, who ^v^as sitting 
with her daughter, Lady Betty Hamilton, and some 
other ladies, took not the least notice of me. I should 
have been mortified at being thus coldly received by a 
lady of whom I, with the rest of the world, have al- 
ways entertained a very high admiration, had I not been 
consoled by the obliging attention of the duke. 

When I returned to the inn, I informed Dr. Johnson 
of the Duke of Argyle's invitation, with which he was 
much pleased, and readily accepted of it. — We talked 
of a violent contest w^hich was then carrying on, with a 
view to the next general election for Ayrshire ; where 
one of the candidates, in order to undermine the old and 
established interest, had artfully held himself out as a 
champion for the independency of the county against 
aristocratick influence, and had persuaded several gen- 
tlemen into a resolution to oppose every candidate who 
was supported by peers. — " Foolish fellows ! (said Dr. 
Johnson,) don't they see that they are as much depend- 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 34S 

ent upon the peers one way as the other. The peers 
have but to oppose a candidate, to ensure him success. 
It is said, the only way to make a pig go forward, is to 
pull him back by the tail. These people must be treat- 
ed like pigs." 

Monday^ 25th October. 

My acquaintance, the Reverend Mr. John M'Au- 
lay, one of the ministers of Inveraray, and brother to 
our good friend at Calder, came to us this morning, 
and accompanied us to the castle, where I presented 
Dr. Johnson to the Duke of Argyle. We were shewn 
through the house ; and I never shall forget the im- 
pression made upon my fancy by some of the ladies' 
maids tripping about in neat morning dresses. After 
seeing for a long time little but rusticity, their lively 
manner, and gay inviting appearance, pleased me so 
much that I thought, for the moment;, I could have 
been a knight-errant for them.* 

We then got into a low one-horse chair, ordered 
for us by the duke, in which we drove about the place. 
Dr. Johnson was much struck by the grandeur and 
elegance of this princely seat. He thought, however, 
the castle too low, and wished it had been a story 
higher. — He said, " W^hat I admire here, is the total 
defiance of expence." I had a particular pride in 
shewing him a great number of fine old trees, to com- 
pensate for the nakedness which had made such an 
impression on him on the eastern coast of Scotland. 

When we came in, before dinner, we found the 
duke and some gentlemen in the hall. Dr. Johnson 

* On reflection, at the distance of several years, I wonder that my venerable 
fellow-traveller should have read this passage without censuring my levity. 



344 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

took much notice of the large collection of arms, which 
are excellently disposed there. I told what he had said 
to Sir Alexander M'Donald, of his ancestors not suffer- 
ing their arms to rust. " Well, (said the doctor,) but 
let us be glad we live in times when arms may rust. 
We can sit to-day at his grace's table, without any risk 
of being attacked, and perhaps sitting down again 
wounded or maimed." The duke placed Dr. Johnson 
next himself at table. I was in fine spirits; and though 
sensible that I had the misfortune of not being in favour 
with the duchess, I was not in the least disconcerted, 
and offered her grace some of the dish that was before 
me. It must be owned that I was in the right to be 
quite unconcerned, if I could. I was the Duke of Ar- 
gyle's guest ; and I had no reason to suppose that he 
adopted the prejudices and resentments of the Duchess 
of Hamilton. 

I knew it w^s the rule of modern high life not to 
drink to any body ; but, that I might have the satisfac • 
tion for once to look the duchess in the face, with a 
glass in my hand, I with a respectful air addressed her, 
— " My Lady Duchess, I have the honour to drink your 
grace's good health." — I repeated the words audibly, 
and with a steady countenance. This was, perhaps, ra- 
ther too much ; but some allowance must be made for 
human feelings. 

The duchess was very attentive to Dr. Johnson. I 
know not how a middle state came to be mentioned. 
Her grace wished to hear him on that point. " Madam, 
(said he,) your own relation, Mr. Archibald Campbell, 
can tell you better about it than I can. He was a bishop 
of the nonjuring communion, and wrote a book upon 
the subject."* — He engaged to get it for her grace. 

* As this book is now become very scarce, I shall subjoin the title, which is 
curious : 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 345 

He afterwards gave a full history of Mr. Archibald 
Campbell, which I am sorry I do not recollect particu- 
larly. He said, Mr. Campbell had been bred a violent 
*Whig, but afterwards " kept better company, and be- 
came a Tory." He said this with a smile, in pleasant 
allusion, as I thought, to the opposition between his own 
political principles and those of the duke's clan. He 
added, that Mr. Campbell, after the Revolution, was 
thrown into gaol on account of his tenets ; but, on ap- 
plication by letter to the old Lord Townshend, was re- 
leased : that he always spoke of his Lordship with great 
gratitude, saying, " though a TFhig, he had humanity." 

Dr. Johnson and I passed some time together, in 
June, 1784, at Pembroke college Oxford, with the Re- 
verend Dr. Adams, the master ; and I having express- 
ed a regret that my note relative to Mr. Archibald 
Campbell was imperfect, he was then so good as to 
write with his own hand, on the blank page of my Jour- 
nal opposite to that which contains what I have now 
mentioned, the following paragraph; which, however, 
is not quite so full as the narrative he gave at Inve- 
raray : 

" The Honourable Archibald Campbell was, I believe y 
" the nephew of the Marquis of Ar gyle. He began life 

" The Doctrines of a Middle State between Death and the Resurrection: Of 
" Prayers for the Dead : And the necessity of Purification ; plainly proved from 
" the Holy Scriptures, and the Writings of the Fathers of the Primitive Church: 
" And acknowledged by several learned Fathers and great Divines of the Church 
" of England and others since the Reformation. To which is added, an Appen- 
" dix concerning the Descent of the Soul of Christ into Hell, while his Body lay 
'• in the Grave. Together with the Judgment of the Reverefld Dr. Hickes con» 
" cerning this Book, so far as relates to a Middle State, particular Judgment, and 
*' Prayers for the Dead as it appeared in the first Edition. And a Manuscript of 
" the Right Reverend Bishop Overall upon the Subject of a Middle State, and 
«* never before printed. Also, a Preservative against several of the Errors of the 
'« Roman Church, in six small Treatises. By the Honourable Archibald Camp- 
" bell." Folio, 1721. 

y V 



346 JOURNAL OF A TOUK 

*' by engaging in Monmouth's rebellion, and, to escape 
" the law, lived some time in Surinam. JVhen he re- 
" turned, he became zealous for episcopacy and monar- 
^^ chy ; and at the Revolution adhered not only to the 
" Nonjurors, but to those who refused to communicate 
" with the Church of England, or to be present at any 
" Ivor ship where the usurper was mentioned as king He 
" was, I believe, more than once apprehended in the 
" reign of king William, and once at the accession of 
" George. He was the familiar friend of Hickes and 
" Nelson ; a man of letters, but injudicious ; and very 
" curious and inquisitive, but credulous. He lived in 
<' 1743, or 44, about 15 years old.'^ 

The subject of luxury was introduced. Dr. John- 
son defended it. " We have now (said he) a splendid 
dinner before us ; Which of all these dishes is un- 
wholesome ?" The duke asserted, that he had observ- 
ed the grandees of Spain diminished in their size by 
luxury. Dr. Johnson politely refrained from opposing 
directly an observation which the duke himself had 
made ; but said, " Man must be very different from 
other animals, if he is diminished by good living ; for 
the size of all other animals is increased by it." I made 
some remark that seemed to imply a belief in second 
sight. The duchess said, " I fancy you will be a Me- 
thodist.''^ — This was the only sentence her grace deign- 
ed to utter to me ; and I take it for granted, she thought 
it a good hit on my credulity in the Douglas cause. 

A gentleman in company, after dinner, was desired 
by the duke to go to another room, for a specimen of 
curious marble, which his grace wished to shew us. 
He brought a wrong piece, upon which the duke sent 
him back again. He could not refuse ; but, to avoid 
any appearance of servility, he whistled as he w^alked 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 347 

out of the room, to show his independency. On my 
mentioning this afterwards to Dr. Johnson, he said, it 
was a nice trait of character. 

Dr. Johnson talked a great deal, and was so enter- 
taining, that Lady Betty Hamilton, after dinner, went 
and placed her chair close to his, leaned upon the back 
of it, and listened eagerly. It would have made a fine 
picture to have drawn the Sage and her at this time in 
their jseveral attitudes. He did not know, all the while, 
how much he was honoured. I told him afterwards. I 
never saw him so gentle and complaisant as this day. 

We went to tea. The duke and I walked up and 
down the drawing-room, conversing. The duchess still 
continued to shew the same marked coldness for me ; 
for which, though I suffered from it, I made every al- 
lowance, considering the very warm part that I had ta- 
ken for Douglas, in the cause in which she thought her 
son deeply interested. Had not her grace discovered 
some displeasure towards me, I should have suspected 
her of insensibility or dissimulation. .^ 

Her grace made Dr. Johnson come and sit by her, 
and asked him why he made his journey so late in the 
year. " Why, madam, (said he,) you know Mr. Bos- 
well must attend the Court of Sesdon, and it does not 
rise till the twelfth of August." — She said, with some 
sharpness, " I know nothing of Mr. Boswell." Poor 
Lady Lucy Douglas, to whom I mentioned this, ob- 
served, " She knew too much of Mr. Boswell." I shall 
make no remark on her grace's speech. I indeed felt 
it as rather too severe ; but when I recollected that my 
punishment was inflicted by so dignified a beauty, I had 
that kind of consolation which a man would feel who is 
strangled by a silken cord. Dr. Johnson was all atten- 
tion to her grace. He used afterwards a droll expres- 



348 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

sion, upon her enjoying the three titles of Hamilton, 
Brandon, and Argyle. Borrowing an image from the 
Turkish empire, he called her a Duchess with three 
tails. 

He was much pleased with our visit at the castle of 
Inveraray. The Duke of Argyle was exceedingly po- 
lite to him, and, upon his complaining of the shelties 
which he had hitherto ridden being too small fpr him, 
his grace told him he should be provided with a good 
horse to carry him next day. 

Mr. John M'Aulay passed the evening with us at 
our inn. When Dr. Johnson spoke of people whose 
principles were good, but whose practice was faulty, 
Mr. M'Aulay said, he had no notion of people being in 
earnest in their good professions, whose practice was 
not suitable. The Doctor grew warm, and said, " Sir, 
are you so grossly ignorant of human nature, as not to 
know that a man may be very sincere in good princi- 
ples, without having good practice ?" 

Df. Johnson was unquestionably in the right ; and 
whoever examines himself candidly, will be satisfied of 
it, though the inconsistency between principles and 
practice is greater in some men than in others. 

I recollect very little of this night's conversation. I 
am sorry that indolence came upon me towards the con- 
clusion of our journey, so that I did not write down 
what passed with the same assiduity as during the 
greatest part of it. 

Tuesday, 26 M October. 

Mr. M'Aulay breakfasted with us, nothing hurt or 
dismayed by his last night's correction. Being a man of 
good sense, he had a just admiration of Dr. Johnson, 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 349 

Either yesterday morning or this, I communicated 
to Dr. Johnson, from Mr. M'Aulay's information, the 
news that Dr. Beattie had got a pension of two hundred 
pounds a year. He sat up in his bed, clapped his hands, 
and cried, " O brave we !" — a pecuhar exclamation of 
his when he rejoices.* 

As we sat over our tea, Mr. Home's Tragedy of 
Douglas was mentioned. I put Dr. Johnson in mind, 
that once, in a coffee-house at Oxford, he called to old 
Mr. Sheridan, " How came you, sir, to give Home a 
gold medal for writing that foolish play ?" and defied 
Mr. Sheridan to shew ten good lines in it. He did not 
insist they should be together ; but that there were not 
ten good lines in the whole play. He now persisted in 
this. I endeavoured to defend that pathetic k and beauti- 
ful tragedy, and repeated the following passage : 

- — '. — " Sincerity, 



" Thou first of virtues 1 let no mortal leave 

" Thy onward path, although the earth should gape, 

" And from the gulph of hell destruction cry, 

" To take dissimulation's winding way." 

Johnson, " That will not do, sir. Nothing is good 
but what is consistent with truth or probability, which 
this is not. Juvenal, indeed, gives us a noble picture 
of inflexible virtue : 



" Esto bonus milcs^ tutor bonusy arbiter idem 
" Integer : ambigua si rjuando citabere testis, 
" Incertceque rei^ Phalaris licet imfierity ut sis 
" Falsusy et admoto dictet fierjuria tauro, 

* Having mentioned, more than once, that my Journal was perused by Dr. 
Johnson, I think it proper to inform my readers that this is the last paragraph 
which he read. 



350 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

" Summtimcrede nefaa animatn firaferrc fiudori^ 

" Et firofiter -vitarn viviendi fitrdere causas."* 

He repeated the lines with great force and dignity ; 
then added, " And, after this, comes Jolinny Home, 
with his earth gaping^ and his destruction crying .•— 
Pooh }" 

While we were lamenting the number of ruined 
religious buildings which we had lately seen, I spoke 
with peculiar feeling of the miserable neglect of the 
chapel belonging to the palace of Holyrood-house, in 
which are deposited the remains of many of the Kings 
of Scotland, and of many of our nobility. I said, it 
was a disgrace to the country that it was not repaired ; 
and particularly complained that my friend Douglas, 
the representative of a great house, and proprietor of a 
vast estate, should suffer the sacred spot where his 
mother lies inteiTcd, to be unroofed, and exposed to all 
the inclemencies of the weather. Dr. Johnson, who, 
I know not how, had formed an opinion on the Hamilton 
side, in the Douglas cause, slily answered, " Sir, sir, 
don't be too severe upon the gentleman; don't accuse 
him of want of filial piety ! Lady Jane Douglas was not 



* An honest guardian, arbitrator just, 

Be thou ; thy station deem a sacred trust. 

With thy good sword maintain thy country's cause ; 

In every action venerate its laws : 

The liesuborn'd if falsely urg'd to swear. 

Though torture wait thee, torture firmly bear; 

To forfeit honour, think the highest shame, 

And life too dearly bought by loss of fame ; 

Nor, to preserve it, with thy virtue give 

That for which only man should wish to live. 

^^ For this and the other translations to iwhich no signature is affixed, I am 

• ;.idebted to the friend whose observations are mentioned in the notes, p. 78 
snd 503. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 351 

his mother." — He roused my zeal so much that I took 
the hberty to tell him he knew nothing of the cause ; 
which I do most seriously believe was the case. 

We were now " in a country of bridles and saddles/ *^ 
and set out fully equipped. The Duke of Argyle was 
obliging enough to mount Dr. Johnson on a stately steed 
from his grace's stable. My friend was highly pleased, 
and Joseph said, " He now looks like a bishop." 

We dined at the inn at Tarbat, and at night came 
to Rosedow, the beautiful seat of Sir James Colquhoun, 
on the banks of Lochlomond, where I, and any friends 
whom 1 have introduced, have ever been received 
with kind and elegant hospitality. 

Wednesday^ 21 th October. 

When I went into Dr. Johnson's room this morning, 
I observed to him how wonderfully courteous he had 
been at Inveraray, and said, " You were quite a fine 
gentleman, when with the duchess." He answered in 
good humour, " Sir, I look upon myself as a very po- 
lite man :" and he was right in a proper manly sense of 
the word. As an immediate proof of it, let me observe 
that he would not send back the duke of Argyle's horse 
without a letter of thanks, which I copied. 

To his Grace the Duke o/* Argyle. 
" My Lord, 

" THAT kindness which disposed your grace to 
supply me with the horse, which I have now returned,^ 
Avill make you pleased to hear that he has carried me 
well. 

By my diligence in the litde commission w:ith which 
I was honoured by the duchess, I will endeavopr to shew 



352 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

how highly I value the favours which I have received, 
and how much I desire to be thought, 
" My lord, 
" Your grace's most obedient, 
" and most humble servant, 

" Sam. Johnson." 

Rosedow, Oct. 29, 1773. 

The duke was so attentive to his respectable guest, 
that on the same day, he wrote him an answer, which 
was received at Auchinleck : 

To Dr. Johnson, Auchinleck j Ayrshire. 
« Sir, 

" I am glad to hear your journey from this place 
was not unpleasant, in regard to your horse. I wish I 
could have supplied you with good weather, which I am 
afraid you felt the want of. 

" The Duchess of Argyle desires her compliments 
to you, and is much obliged to you for remembering 
her commission. I am, sir, 

" Your most obedient humble servant, 

" Argyle." 

Inveraray, Oct. 29, 1773. 

I am happy to insert every memorial of the honour 
done to my great friend. Indeed, I was at all times de- 
sirous to preserve the letters which he received from 
eminent persons, of which, as of all other papers, he was 
very negligent ; and I once proposed to him, that they 
should be committed to my care, as his Custos Rotulo- 
rum. I wish he had complied with my request, as by 
that means many valuable writings might have been pre- 
served, that are now lost.* 

- * As a remarkable instance of his negligence, I remember some years ago to 



« 



•^^ TO THE HEBRIDES. 353 

After breakfast Dr. Johnson and I were furnished 
with a boat, and sailed about upon Lochlomond, and 
landed on some of the islands which are interspersed. 
He was much pleased with the scene, which is so well 
known by the accounts of various travellers, that it is 
unnecessary for me to attempt any description of it. 

I recollect none of his conversation, except that when 
talking of dress, he said, " Sir, were I to have any thing 
fine, it should be very fine. Were I to wear a ring, it 
should not be a bauble, but a stone of great value. Were 
I to wear a laced or embroidered waistcoat, it should be 
very rich. I had once a very rich laced waistcoat, which 
I wore the first night of my tragedy." 

Lady Helen Colquhoun being a very pious woman, 
the conversation, after dinner, took a religious turn. Her 
ladyship defended the presbyterian mode of public wor- 
ship ; upon which Dr. Johnson delivered those excel- 
lent arguments for a form of prayer which he has intro- 
duced into his " Journey." I am myself fully convinced 
that a form of prayer for publick worship is in general 
most decent and edifying. Solennia verba have a kind 
of prescriptive sanctity, and make a deeper impression 
on the mind than extemporaneous effusions, in which, 
as we know not what they are to be, we cannot readily 
acquiesce. Yet I would allow also of a certain portion 
of extempore address, as occasion may require. This 
is the practice of the French Protestant churches. And 
although the office of forming supplications to the throne 

have found lying loose in his study, and without the cover which contained the 
address, a letter to him from Lord Thurlow, to whom he had made an application, 
as Chancellor, in behalf of a poor literary friend. It was expressed in such terms 
of respect for Dr. Johnson, that in my zeal for his reputation, I remonstrated 
warmly with him on his strange inattention, and obtained his permission to take 
a copy of it ; by which probably it has been preserved, as the original I have rea- 
son to suppose is lost. 

Z Z 



554 JOURNAL OF A TOUR ,f, 

of heaven is, in my mind, too great a trust to be indis- 
criminately committed to the discretion of every minis- 
ter, I do not mean to deny, that sincere devotion may 
be experienced when joining in prayer with those who 
use no Liturgy. 

We were favoured with Sir James Colquhoun's 
coach to convey us in the evening to Cameron, the seat 
of Commissary Smollet. Our satisfaction at finding our- 
selves again in a comfortable carriage was very great. 
We had a pleasing conviction of the commodiousness of 
civilization, and heartily laughed at the ravings of those 
absurd visionaries who have attempted to persuade us 
of the superior advantages of a state of nature. 

Mr, Smollet was a man of considerable learning, with 
abundance of animal spirits ; so that he was a very good 
companion for Dr. Johnson, who said to me, " We have 
had more solid talk here than at any place where we 
have been." 

I remember Dr. Johnson gave us this evening an able 
and eloquent discourse on the Origin of Evil, and on the 
consistency of moral evil with the power and goodness 
of God. He shewed us how it arose from our free agen- 
cy, an extinction of which would be a still greater evil 
than any we experience. I know not that he said any 
thing absolutely new, but he said a great deal wonder- 
fully well ; and perceiving us to be delighted and satisfi- 
ed, he concluded his harangue with an air of benevolent 
triumph over an objection which has distressed many 
worthy minds : " This then is the answer to the ques- 
tion, uo6'.v TO KctKcv ?" — Mrs. Smollet whispered me that it 
was the best sermon she had ever heard. Much do I 
Upbraid myself for having neglected to preserve it. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 355 

Thursday^ 28th October. 

Mr. Smollet pleased Dr. Johnson, by producing a 
collection of news-papers in the time of the Usurpation, 
ii-om which it appeared that all sorts of crimes were very 
frequent during that horrible anarchy. By the side of 
the high road to Glasgow, at some distance from his 
house, he had erected a pillar to the memory of his in- 
genious kinsman, Dr. Smollet ; and he consulted Dr. 
Johnson as to an inscription for it. Lord Kames, who, 
though he had a great store of knowledge, with much 
ingenuity, and uncommon activity of mind, was no pro- 
found scholar, had it seems recommended an English 
inscription. Dr. Johnson treated this with great con- 
tempt, saying " An English inscriptian would be a dis- 
grace to Dr. Smollet;" and in answer to what Lord 
Kames had urged, as to the advantage of its being in 
English, because it would be generally understood, I 
observed, that all to whom Dr. Smollet's merit could 
be an object of respect and imitation, would understand 
it as well in Latin ; and that surely it was not meant for 
the Highland drovers, or other such people, who pass 
and repass that way. 

We were then shewn a Latin inscription, proposed 
for this monument. Dr. Johnson sat down with an ar- 
dent and liberal earnestness to revise it, and greatly im- 
proved it by several additions and variations. I unfor- 
tunately did not take a copy of it, as it originally stood ; 
but I have happily preserved every fragment of what Dr. 
Johnson wrote : 

Quisquis ades, viator, 

Vel mente felix^ vel stiidiis cultus, 

Immorare paululum memortts 

T O B I iE SMOLLET, M. D. 



.356 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

Viri its virtutibus 

"Qtias in nomine et cive 

Et laudes, et imiteris^ 

Postquam mira * * * 

'TfC 7lv 7(v "7^ 

Tali tantoque viro, suo patrueli, 

*j£. jk, jjg. 41^ ^ ^ 

Hanc columnam^ 

Amoris eheu! inane monumentum, 

In ipsis Levinice ripis, 

Quas primis infans vagitibus personuif, 

Versiculisque jam fere moriturus illustravit. 

yf\ T^ 7pr ";fr ^^ Tjt i^ir 

Ponendam curavit^ 

• The epitaph which has been inscribed on the pillar erected on the bJtnks of 
the Leven, in honour of Dr. SmoUet, is as follows. The part which was written 
by Dr. Johnson, it appears, has been altered ; whether for the better, the reader 
will judge. The alterations are distinguished by Italicks. 

Siste viator ! 

Si lepores ingeniique venam benignam. 

Si morum callidissimum pictorem, 

Unquam es miratus, 

Immorare paululum memoriae 

TOBIJa SMOLLET, M.D. 

Viri virtutibus hisce 

Quas in homine et cive 

Et laudes et imiteris, 

Haud mediocriter ornati : 

Qui in Uteris variis versatus, 

Postquam felicitate sibi firofiria 

Sese posteris commendaverat, 

Morte acerba raptus 

Anno aetatis 5 1 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 357 

We had this morning a singular proof of Dr. John- 
son's quick and retentive memor}\ Hay's translation of 

Eheu ! quam procul a patria ! 
Pi'ope Liburni portum in Italia, 

Jacet sepultus. 

Tali tantoque viro, patrueli, suo, 

Cui in decursu lampada 

Se potius tradidisse decuit, 

Hanc Columnam, 

Amoris, eheu ! inane monumentum 

In ipsis Levinise ripis, 

Quas versiculis sub exitu -vital illustratas 

Prirais infans vagitibus personuit, 

Ponendam curavit 

Jacobus Smollet de Bonhill. 

Abi et reminiscere, 

Hoc quidem honore, 

Non modo defuncti memoriae, 

Verum etiam exemplo, prospectum esse : 

Aliis enim, si modo digni sint, 

Idem erit virtutis praemium ! 

That the reader might be enabled to judge of the propriety of the additions 

made by Dr- Johnson to the epitaph on Mr. Maclaurin, mentioned in p. 35, 1 

wished to have inserted it at large, but being at a distance frcJm the press when 

ihe former part of this work was printed, the note intended for that page did not 

arrive in time. I shall therefore introduce it here. .,,¥ 

Mr. Maclaurin's epitaph, as engraved on a marble tomb-stone, in the Grey- 
Friars church-yard, Edinburgh; 

Infra situs est 

COLIN MACLAURIN, 

Mathes. olim in Acad. Edin. Prof, 

Electus ipso Newtono suadente. 

H. L. P. F. 

Non ut nomini paterno consulat. 

Nam tali auxilio nil eget ; 

Bed ut in hoc infelici campo, 

Ubi luctus regnant et pavor, 

Mortalibus prorsus non absit solatium .- 

Hujus enim scripta evolve, 

Mentemque tantarum rerum capacem 

Corpori caduco siiperstitem crede. 



358 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

Martial was lying in a window. I said, I thought it was 
pretty well done, and shewed him a particular epigram, 
I think, of ten, but am certain of eight, lines. He read 
it, and tossed away the book saying — " No, it is 7iot 
pretty well." As I persisted in my opinion, he said, 
"Why, sir, the original is thus," — (and he repeated 
it ;) " and this man's translation is thus," — and then he 
repeated that also, exactly, though he had never seen it 
before, and read it over only once, and that too, without 
any intention of getting it by heart. 

Here a post-chaise, which I had ordered from Glas- 
gow, came for us, and we drove on in high spirits. We 
stopped at Dunbarton, and though the approach to the 
castle there is very steep, Dr. Johnson ascended it with 
alacrity, and surveyed all that was to be seen. During 
the whole of our Tour he shewed uncommon spirit, 
could not bear to be treated like an old or infirm man, 
and was very unwilling to accept of any assistance, in- 
somuch that, at our landing on Icolmkill, when Sir Allan 
M'Lean and I submitted to be carried on men's shoul- 
ders from the boat to the shore, as it could not be 
brought quite close to land, he sprang into the sea, and 
waded vigorously out. 

On our arrival at the Saracen's Head Inn, at Glas- 
o-ow, I was made happy by good accounts from home ; 
and Dr. Johnson, who had not received a single letter 
since we left Aberdeen, found here a great many, the 
perusal of which entertained him much. He enjoyed 
in imagination the comforts which we could now com- 
mand, and seemed to be in high glee. I remember, 
he put a leg up on each side of the grate, and said, with 
a mock solemnity, by way of soliloquy, but loud enough 
for me to hear it, " Here am I, an English man, git- 
ting by a cofl/fire!" 



* TO THE HEBRIDES. 359 

Friday^ 29th October. 

The professors of the iiniversity being informed of 
our arrival, Dr. Stevenson, Dr. Reid, and Mr. An- 
derson, breakfasted with us. Mr. Anderson ac- 
companied us while Dr. Johnson viewed this beau- 
tiful city. He had told me, that one day in Lon- 
don, when Dr. Adam Smith was boasting of it, he turn- 
ed to him and said, "Pray, sir, have you ever seen 
Brentford ?" — This was surely a strong instance of his 
impatience, and spirit of contradiction. I put him in 
mind of it to-day, while he expressed his admiration of 
the elegant buildings, and whispered him, " Don't you 
feel some remorse ?" 

We were received in the college by a number of the 
professors, w^ho shewed all due respect to Dr. Johnson ; 
and then we paid a visit to the principal. Dr. Leech- 
man, at his own house, where Dr. Johnson had the sa- 
tisfaction of being told that his name had been gratefully 
celebrated in one of the parochial congregations in the 
Highlands, as the person to whose influence it was chief- 
ly owing, that the New Testament was allowed to be 
translated into the Erse language. It seems some poli- 
tical members of the Society in Scotland for propagating 
Christian Knowledge, had opposed this pious undertak- 
ing, as tending to preserve the distinction between the 
Highlanders and Lowlanders. Dr. Johnson wrote a 
long letter upon the subject to a friend, which being 
shewn to them, made them ashamed, and afraid of being 
publickly exposed ; so they were forced to a compli- 
ance. It is now in my possession, and is, perhaps, one 
of the best productions of his masterly pen. 

Professors Reid and Anderson, and the two Mes- 
sieurs Foulis, the Elzevirs of Glasgow, dined and drank 



S60 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

tea with us at our inn, after which the professors went 
away ; and I, having a letter to write, left my fellow- 
traveller with Messieurs Foulis. Though good and in- 
genious men, they had that unsettled speculative mode 
of conversation which is oifensive to a man regularly 
taught at an English school and university. I found 
that, instead of listening to the dictates of the Sage, they 
had teazed him with questions and doubtful disputa- 
tions. He came in a flutter to me, and desired I might 
come back again, for he could not bear these men. 
" O ho! sir, (said I,) you are flying to me for refuge '." 
He never, in any situation, was at a loss for a ready re- 
partee. He answered, with quick vivacity, "It is of 
two evils choosing the least." I was delighted with 
this flash bursting from the cloud which hung upon his 
mind, closed my letter directly, and joined the com- 
pany. 

We supped at professor Anderson's. The general 
impression upon my memory is, that we had not much 
conversation at Glasgow, where the professors, like 
their brethren at Aberdeen, did not venture to expose 
themselves much to the battery of cannon which they 
knew might play upon them. Dr. Johnson, who was 
fully conscious of his own superior powers, afterwards 
praised Principal Robertson for his caution in this res- 
pect. He said to me, " Robertson, sir, was in the 
right. Robertson is a man of eminence, and the head 
of a college at Edinburgh. He had a character to main- 
tain, and did well not to risk its being lessened." 

Saturday^ SOth October. 

We set out towards Ayrshire. I sent Joseph on to 
Loudoun^ with a message, that, if the earl was at home, 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 3.61 

Dr. Johnson and I would have the honour to dine with 
him. Joseph met us on the road, and reported that the 
earl '•'■ jumped for joy ^^"^ and said, " I shall be very hap- 
py to see them." — We were received with the most 
pleasing courtesy by his lordship, and by the countess 
his mother, who, in her ninety-fifth year, had all her fa- 
culties quite unimpaired. This was a very cheering 
sight to Dr. Johnson, who had an extraordinary desire 
for long life. Her ladyship was sensible and well-in- 
formed, and had seen a great deal of the world. Her 
lord had held several high offices, and she was sister to 
the great Earl of Stair. '" 

I cannot here refrain from paying a just tribute to 
the character of John Earl of Loudoun, who did more 
service to the county of Ayr in general, as well as to 
individuals in it, than any man we have ever had. It 
is painful to think that he met with much ingratitude 
from persons both in high and low rank : but such was 
his temper, such his knowledge of " base maiikind,"*^^ 
that, as if he had expected no other return, his mind 
was never soured, and he retained his good-humour 
and benevolence to the last. The tenderness of his 
heart was proved in 1745-6, when he had an important 
command in the Highlands, and behaved with a gene- 
rous humanity to the unfortunate. I cannot figure a 
more honest politician ; for though his interest in our 
county was great, and generally successful, he not only 
did not deceive by fallacious promises, but was anxious 
that people should not deceive themselves by too san- 
guine expectations. His kind and dutiful attention to 
his mother was unremitted. At his house was true 
hospitality ; a plain but a plentiful table ; and every 

* The unwilling gratitude of base mankind. Pope. 

3 A 



362 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

guest, being left at perfect freedom, felt himself quite 
easy and happy. While I live, I shall honour the me- 
mory of this amiable man. 

At night, we advanced a few miles farther, to the 
house of Mr Campbell of Treesbank, who was married 
to one of my wife's sisters, and were entertained very 
agreeably by a worthy couple. 

Sunday J ^\st October. 

We repcTsed here in tranquillity. Dr. Johnson \vas 
pleased to find a numerous and excellent collection of 
books which had mostly belonged to the Reverend Mr. 
John Campbell, brother of our host. I was desirous td 
have procured for my fellow-traveller, to-day the com- 
pany of Sir John Cuninghame, of Caprington, whose 
castle was but two miles from us. He was a very dis- 
tinguished scholar, was long abroad, and during part of 
the time lived much with the learned Cuninghame, the 
opponent of Bentley as a critick upon Horace. He wrote 
Latin with great elegance, and, what is very remarkable, 
read Homer and Ariosto through, every year. I wrote 
to him to request he would come to us ; but unfortu- 
nately he was prevented by indisposition. 

Monday J \st November. 

Though Dr. Johnson was lazy, and averse to move^ 
I insisted that he should go with me, and pay a visit t© 
the countess of Eglintoune, mother of the late and present 
earl. I assured him, he would find himself amply re- 
compensed for the trouble ; and he yielded to my soli- 
citations, though with some unwillingness. We were 
well mounted^ and had not many miles to ride. He 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 363 

talked of the attention that is necessary in order to dis- 
tribute our charity judiciously. " If thoughtlessly done, 
we may neglect the most deserving objects ; and, as 
every man has but a certain proportion to give, if it is 
lavished upon those who first present themselves, there 
may be nothing left for such as have a better claim. A 
man should first relieve those who are nearly connected 
with him, by whatever tie ; and then if he has any thing 
to spare, may extend his bounty to a wider circle." 

As we passed very near the castle of Dundonald, 
which was one of the many residences of the kings of 
Scotland, and in which Robert the Second lived and 
died. Dr. Johnson wished to survey it particularly. It 
stands on a beautiful rising ground, which is seen at a 
great distance on several quarters, and from whence 
there is an extensive prospect of the rich district of Cu- 
ninghame, the western sea, the Isle of Arran, and a part 
of the northern coast of Ireland. It has long been un- 
roofed ; and, though of considerable size, we could not 
by any power of imagination, figure it as having been a 
suitable habitation for majesty. Dr. Johnson, to irritate 
my old Scottish enthusiasm, was very jocular on the 
homely accommodation of " King Bob,'''' and roared and 
laughed till the ruins echoed. 

Lady Eglintoune, though she was now in her eigh- 
ty-fifth year, and had lived in the retirement of the coun- 
try for almost half a century, was still a very agreeable 
woman. She was of the noble house of Kennedy, and 
had all the elevation which the consciousness of such 
birth inspires. Her figure was majestick, her manners 
high-bred, her reading extensive, and her conversation 
elegant. She had been the admiration of the gay cir- 
cles of life, and the patroness of poets. Dr. Johnson 
was delighted with his reception here. Her principles 



364 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

in church and state were congenial with his. She knew 
all his merit, and had heard much of him from her son 
Earl Alexander, who loved to cultivate the acquaintance 
of men of talents, in every department. 

All who knew his lordship, will allow that his under* 
standing and accomplishments were of no ordinary rate. 
From the gay habits which he had early acquired, he 
spent too much of his time with men, and in pursuits, 
far beneath such a mind as his. He afterwards became 
sensible of it, and turned his thoughts to objects of im- 
portance ; but was cut ofif in the prime of his life. I 
cannot speak, but with emotions of the most affectionate 
regret, of one, in whose company many of my early days 
were passed, and to whose kindness I was much in- 
debted. 

Often must I have occasion to upbraid myself, that 
soon after our return to the main land, I allowed indo- 
lence to prevail over me so much, as to shrink from the 
labour of continuing my journal with the same minute- 
ness as before ; sheltering myself in the thought that we 
had done with ih^ Hebrides ; and not considering, that 
Dr. Johnson's Memorabilia were likely to be more valu- 
able when we were restored to a more polished society. 
Much has thus become irrecoverably lost. 

In the course of our conversation this day, it came 
out, that Lady Eglintoune was married the year before 
Dr. Johnson was born ; upon which she graciously said 
to him, that she might have been his mother, and that 
she now adopted him ; and when we were going away, 
she embraced him, saying, " My dear son, farewell !" 
— My friend was much pleased with this day's entertain- 
ment, and owned that I had done well to force him out. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 365 

Tuesday^ 2d November. 

We were now in a- country not only " of saddles and 
bridles,'''' but of post-chaises ; and having ordered one 
from Kilmarnock, we got to Auchinleck before dinner. 

My father was not quite a year and a half older 
than Dr. Johnson ; but his conscientious discharge of 
his laborious duty as a judge in Scotland, where the 
law proceedings are almost all in writing, — a severe 
complaint which ended in his death, — and the loss of 
my mother, a woman of almost unexampled piety and 
goodness, — had before this time in some degree affect- 
ed his spirits, and rendered him less disposed to exert 
his faculties : for he had originally a very strong mind, 
and cheerful temper. He assured me, he never had 
felt one moment of what is called low spirits, or uneasi- 
ness without a real cause. He had a great many good 
stories, which he told uncommonly ^v^ell, and he was 
remarkable for " humour, incolumi gravitate,'''' as Lord 
Monboddo used to characterize it. His age, his office, 
and his character, had long given him an acknowledged 
claim to great attention, in whatever company he was ; 
and he could ill brook any diminution of it. He was as 
sanguine a Whig and Presbyterian, as Dr. Johnson was 
a Tory, and church of England man : and as he had 
not much leisure to be informed of Dr. Johnson's great 
merits by reading his works, he had a partial and un- 
favorable notion of him, founded on his supposed poli- 
tical tenets ; which were so discordant to his own, that, 
instead of speaking of him with that respect to which 
he was entitled, he used to call him " 2i Jacobite fellow, ^'^ 
Knowing all this, I should not have ventured to bring 
them together, had not my father, out of kindness to 
me, desired me to invite Dr. Johnson to his house. 



366 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

I was very anxious that all should be well ; and 
begged of my friend to avoid three topicks, as to which, 
they differed very widely ; Whiggism, Presbyterianism, 
and — Sir John Pringle. He said courteously, *' I shall 
certainly not talk on subjects which I am told are disa- 
greeable to a gentleman under whose roof I am ; espe- 
cially, I shall not do so to your father. "^"^ 

Our first day went off very smoothly. It rained, and 
we could not get out ; but my father shewed Dr. John- 
son his library, which, in curious editions of the Greek 
and Roman classicks, is, I suppose, not excelled by any 
private collection in Great Britain. My father had studi- 
ed at Leyden, and been very intimate with the Gronovii, 
and other learned men there. He was a sound scholar, 
and, in particular, had collated manuscripts and differ- 
ent editions of Anacreon, and others of the Greek 
Lyrick poets, with great care ; so that my friend and 
be had much matter for conversation, without touching 
on the fatal topicks of difference. 

Dr. Johnson found here Baxter's Anacreon^ which 
he told me he had long enquired for in vain, and began 
to suspect there was no such book. Baxter was the 
keen antagonist of Barnes. His life is in the JSiographia 
Britannica. My father has written many notes on this 
book, and Dr. Johnson and I talked of having it 
reprinted, 

Wednesday^ ^d November, 

It rained all day, and gave Dr. Johnson an impres- 
sion of that incommodiousness of climate in the west, 
of which he has taken notice in his " Journey ;" but, 
beino* well accommodated, and furnished with variety 
of books, he was not dissatisfied. 



TO THE HEiJRIDES., 367 

Some gentlemen of the neighbourliood came to visit 
my father ; but there was little conversation. One of 
them asked Dr. Johnson, how he liked the Highlands, 
The question seemed to irritate him, for he answered, 
" How, sir, can you ask me what obliges me to speak 
unfavourably of a country where I have been hospitably 
entertained ? Who can like the Highlands ? — I like 
the inhabitants very well." — The gentleman asked no 
more questions. 

Let me now make up for the present neglect, by 
again gleaning from the past. At Lord Monboddo's, 
after the conversation upon the decrease of learning in 
England, his lordship mentioned Hermes by Mr. Harris 
of Salisbury, as the work of a living authour, for whom 
he had a great respect. Dr. Johnson said nothing at 
the time ; but when we were in our post-chaise, told 
me, he thought Harris " a coxcomb." This he said of 
him, not as a man, but as an authour ; and I give his 
opinions of men and books, faithfully, whether they 
agree with my own, or not. I do admit, that there al- 
ways appeared to me something of affectation in Mr. 
Harris's manner of writing; something of a habit of 
clothing plain thoughts in analytick and categorical for- 
mality. But all his writings are imbued with learning ; 
and all breathe that philanthropy and amiable disposi- 
tion, which distinguished him as a man»* 



• This gentleman, though devoted to the study of grammar and dialecticlcs, 
was not so absorbed in it as to be without a sense of pleasantry, or to be offend- 
ed at his favoui-ite topicks being treated lightly. I one day met him in the street, 
as I was hastening to the House of Lords, and told him, I was sorry 1 could not 
stop, being rather too late to attend an appeal of the Duke of Hamilton against 
Douglas. "I thought (said he) their contest had been over long ago." I an- 
swered, •' The contest concerning Douglas's filiation was over long ago ; but the 
contest now is, who shall have the estate." Then, assuming the air of "an an- 
cient sage philosopher," I proceeded thus : '* Were I to predicate concerning 



3.68 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

At another time, during our Tour, he drew the cha- 
racter of a rapacious Highland Chief with the strength 
of Theophrastus or la Bruyere ; concluding with these 
words : " Sir, he has no more the soul of a Chief, than 
an attorney who has twenty houses in a street, and consi- 
ders how much he can make by them." 

He this day, when we were by ourselves, observed, 
how common it was for people to talk from books ; to re- 
tail the sentiments of others, and not their own ; in 
short, to converse without any originality of thinking. 
He was pleased to say, " You and I do not talk from 
books." 

Thursday^ 4:th November. 

T was glad to have at length a very fine day, on 
which I could shew Dr. Johnson the Place of my fami- 
ly, which he has honoured with so much attention in 
his " Journey." He is, however, mistaken in thinking 
that the Celtick name, Auchinleck^ has no relation to 
the natural appearance of it. I believe every Celtick 
name of a place will be found very descriptive. Au- 
chinleck does not signify a stony field, as he has said, 
but a field of fiag -stones ; and this place has a number 
of rocks, which abound in strata of that kind. The 
" sullen dignity of the old castle^" as he has forcibly 
expressed it, delighted him exceedingly. On one side 
of the rock on which its ruins stand, runs the river Lu- 
gar, which is here of considerable breadth, and is bor- 
dered by other high rocks, shaded with wood. On the 
other side runs a brook, skirted in the same manner, but 

him, I should say, the contest formerly was, What is he ? The contest now is. 
What Aas he?" — "Right, (replied. Mr. Harris, smiling,) you have done yrith 
quality, and have got into quantity." 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 369 

on a jsmaller scale. I cannot figure a more romantick 
scene. 

I felt myself elated here, and expatiated to my illus- 
trious Mentor on the antiquity and honourable alliances 
of my family, and on the merits of its founder, Thomas 
Boswell, who was highly favoured by his sovereign, 
James IV of Scotland, and fell with him at the battle of 
Flodden-field ; and, in the glow of what, I am sensible, 
will, in a commercial age, be considered as genealogi- 
cal enthusiasm, did not omit to mention, what I was 
sure my friend would not think lightly of, my relation 
to the Royal Personage, whose liberality, on his acces- 
sion to the throne, had given him comfort and indepen- 
dence. I have, in a former page, acknowledged my 
pride of ancient blood, in which I Vi^as encouraged by 
Dr. Johnson : my readers therefore will not be surpriz- 
ed at my having indulged it on tliis occasion. 

Not far from the old castle is a spot of consecrated 
earth, on which may be traced the foundations of an 
ancient chapel, dedicated to St. Vincent, and where in 
old times, was the " place of graves" for the family. 
It grieves me to think that the remains of sanctity here, 
which were considerable, were dragged away, and em- 
ployed in building a part of the house of Auchinleck, 
of the middle age ; which was the family residence, till 
my father erected that " elegant modern mansion," of 
which Dr. Johnson speaks so handsomely. Perhaps this 
chapel may one day be restored. 

Dr. Johnson was pleased, when I shewed him some 
venerable old trees, under the shade of which my an- 
cestors had walked. He exhorted me to plant assidu- 
ously, as my father had done to a great extent. 

As I wandered with my revered friend in the groves 
of Auchinleck, I told him, that, if I survived him, it 

3 b * 



370 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

was my intention to erect a monument to him here, 
among scenes which, in my mind, were all classical ; 
for in my youth 1 had appropriated to them many of 
the descriptions of the Roman poets. He could not bear 
to have death presented to him in any shape ; for, his 
constitutional melancholy made the king of terrours 
more frightful. He turned off the subject, saying, 
" Sir, I hope to see your grand- children I" 

This forenoon he observed some cattle without 
horns, of which he has taken notice in his " Journey," 
and seems undecided whether they be of a particular 
race. His doubts appear to have had no foundation j 
for my respectable neighbour, Mr. Fairlie, who, with 
all his attention to agriculture, finds time both for the 
classicks and his friends, assures me they are a distinct 
species, and that, when any of their calves have horns, 
a mixture of breed can be traced. In confirmation of 
his opinion, he pointed out to me the following passage 
in Tacitus, — " JVe a7'me?itis quidem suus honor ^ aut glo- 
ria frontis ;'''' (De mor. Germ. ^ 5.) which he wonder- 
ed had escaped Dr. Johnson. 

On the front of the house of Auchinleck is this in- 
scription : 

Quod petis, hie est ; 



Est Ulubris ; animus si te nan deficit ceqims. 

It is characteristick of the founder ; but the animus 
aquiis is, alas ! not inheritable, nor the subject of de- 
vise. He always talked to me as if it were in a man's 
own power to attain it ; but Dr. Johnson told me that 
he owned to him, when they were alone, his persuasion 
that it was in a great measure constitutional, or the ef- 
fect of causes which do not depend on ourselves, and 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 371 

that Horace boasts too much, when he says, aquum mi 
ammum ipse parabo. 

Friday, 5th November. 

The Reverend Mr. Dun, our parish mmister, \yho 
had dined with us yesterday, with some other company, 
insisted that Dr. Johnson and I should dine with him to- 
day. This gave me an opportunity to shew my friend 
the road to the church, made by my father at a great 
expence, for above three miles, on his own estate, 
through a range of well enclosed farms, with a row of 
trees on each side of it. He called it the Fia sacra, and 
was very fond of it. Dr. Johnson, though he held no- 
tions far distant from those of the presbyterian clergy, yet 
could associate on good terms with them. He indeed 
occasionally attacked them. One of them discovered a 
narrowness of information concerning the dignitaries of 
the church of England, among whom may be found men 
of the greatest learning, virtue and piety, and of a truly 
apostolic character. He talked before Dr. Johnson, of 
fat bishops and drowsy deans ; and, in short, seemed to 
believe the illiberal and profane scoffings of professed 
satirists, or vulgar railers. Dr. Johnson was so highly 
offended, that he said to him, " Sir, you know no more 
of our church than a Hottentot." — I was sorry that he 
brought this upon himself. 

Saturday, &th November, 

I cannot be certain, whether it was on this day, or 
a former, that Dr. Johnson and my father came in col- 
lision. If I recollect right, the contest began while my 
father was shewing him his collection of medals ; and 



'372 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

Oliver Cromwell's coin unfortunately introduced Charles 
the First, and Toryism. They became exceedingly 
warm, and violent, and I was very much distressed by 
being present at such an altercation between two men, 
both of whom I reverenced ; yet I durst not interfere. 
It would certainly be very unbecoming in me to exhibit 
my honoured father, and my respected friend, as intel- 
lectual gladiators, for the entertainment of the publick ; 
and therefore I suppress what would, I dare say, make 
an interesting scene in this dramatick sketch, — this ac- 
count of the transit of Johnson over the Caledonian He- 
misphere. 

Yet I think I may, without impropriety, mention 
one circumstance, as an instance of my father's address. 
Dr. Johnson challenged him as he did us all at Talisker, 
to point out any theological works of merit written by 
Presbyterian ministers in Scotland. My father whose 
studies did not lie much in that way, owned to me after- 
wards, that he was somewhat at a loss how to answer, 
but that luckily he recollected having read in catalogues 
the title of Durhain on the Galatians ; upon which he 
boldly said, " Pray, sir, have you read Mr. Durham's 
excellent commentary on the Galatians?" — " No sir," 
said Dr. Johnson. By this lucky thought my father 
kept him at bay, and for some time enjoyed his triumph ; 
but his antagonist soon made a retort, which I forbear 
to mention. 

In the course of their altercation, Whiggism and 
Presbyterianism, Toryism and Episcopacy, were terri- 
bly buffeted. My worthy hereditary friend, Sir John 
Pr ingle, never having been mentioned, happily escaped 
without a bruise. 

My father's opinion of Dr. Johnson may be conjec- 
tured from the name he afterwards gave him, which was 



I TO THE HEBRIDES. 373 

Urs^ Major. But it is not true, as has been report- 
ed, that it was in consequence of my saying that he was 
a constellation of genius and hterature. It was a sly 
abrupt expression to one of his brethren on the bench 
of thje Court of Session, in which Dr. Johnson was then 
standing ; but it was not said in his hearing. 

I Sunday^ 1th November. 

■■'■ 1 ■ . . . 

My father and I went to publick worship in our 

parish- church, in which I regretted that Dr. Johnson 
would not join us ; for, though we have there no form 
of prayer, nor magnificent solemnity, yet, as God is 
worshipped in spirit and in truth, and the same doctrines 
preached as in the church of England, my friend would 
certainly have shewn more liberality had he attended. 
I doubt not, however, but he employed his time in pri- 
vate to very good purpose. His uniform and fervent 
piety was manifested on many occasions during our 
Tour, which I have not mentioned. — His reason for not 
joining in Presbyterian worship has been recorded in a 
former page.* 

Monday, 8th JYov ember. 

Notwithstanding the altercation that had passed, my 
father who had the dignified courtesy of an old Baron, 
was very civil to Dr. Johnson, and politely attended him 
to the post-chaise, which was to convey us to Edin- 
burgh. 

Thus they parted. — They are nov/ in another, and 
a higher, state of existence : and as they were both 
worthy christian men, I trust they have met in happi- 

* p. 101. 



JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

ness. But I must observe, in justice to my friend's po- 
litical principles, and my own, that they have met in a 
place where there is no room for Whiggism. 

We came at night to a good inn at Hamilton. — I 
recollect no more. 

Tuesday^ 9th, November. 

1 1 wished to have shewn Dr. Johnson the Duke of 
Hamilton's house, commonly called the Pc/ace of Hamil- 
ton^ which is close by the town. It is an object which, 
having been pointed out to me as a splendid edifice, from 
my earliest years, in travelling between Auchinleck and 
Edinburgh, has still great grandeur in my imagination. 
My friend consented to stop, and view the outside of it, 
but could not be persuaded to go into it. 

We arrived this night at Edinburgh, after an absence 
of ^ighty-three days. For five weeks together, of the 
tempestuous season, there had been no account received 
of lis. I cannot express how happy I was on finding 
myself again at home. 



ii> 



Wednesday^ 10th November' . 

Id Mr. Drummond, the bookseller, came to break- 
fast.! Dr. Johnson and he had not met for ten years. 
Theire was respect on his side, and kindness on Dr. 
Johnson's. Soon afterwards Lord Elibank came in, and 
was j much pleased at seeing Dr^ Johnson in Scotland. 
His lordship said, " hardly any thing seemed to him 
moije improbable." Dr. Johnson had a very high opin- 
ion of him. Speaking of him to me, he characterized 
him thus : " Lord Elibank has read a great deal. It 
is tuie, I can find in books all that he has read ; but he 



"iO THE HEBRIDES. 575 

has a great deal of what is in books, proved by the test 
of real life." — Indeed, there have been few men whose 
conversation discovered more knowledge enlivened by 
fancy. He published several small pieces of distin- 
guished merit ; and has left some in manuscript, in par- 
ticular an account'of the expedition against Carthagena, 
in which he served as an officer in the army. His 
writings deserve to be collected. He was the early 
patron of Dr. Robertson, the historian, and Mr. Home, 
the tragick poet; who, when they were ministers of 
country parishes, lived near his seat. He told me, " I 
saw these lads had talents, and they were much with 
me." — I hope they will pay a grateful tribute to his 
memory. 

The morning was chiefly taken up by Dr. Johnson's 
giving him an account of our Tour. — The subject of 
difference in political principles was introduced. — John- 
son. "It is much increased by opposition. There 
was a violent Whig, with whom I used to contend with 
great eagerness. After his death I felt my Toryism 
much abated." — I suppose he meant Mr. Walmsley, 
of Lichfield, whose character he has drawn so well in 
his Life of Edmund Smith. 

Mr. Nairne came in, and he and I accompanied Dr. 
Johnson to Edinburgh castle, which he ov/ned was 
" a great place." But I must mention, as a striking 
instance of that spirit of contradiction to which he had 
a strong propensity, when LordElibank was some days 
after talking of it with the natural elation of a Scotch- 
man, or of any man who is proud of a stately fortress 
in his own country. Dr. Johnson affected to despise it, 
observing, that " it would make a good pT'ison in Eng- 
land." 

Lest it should be supposed that I have suppressed 



376 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

one of his sallies against my countr}^, it may not be im- 
proper here to correct a mistaken account that has been 
circulated, as to his conversation this day. It has been 
said, that being desired to attend to the noble prospect 
from the Castle-hill, he replied, " Sir, the noblest pros- 
pect that a Scotchman ever sees, is the high road that 
leads him to London." — This lively sarcasm was thrown 
out at a tavern in London, in my presence, many years 
before. 

We had with us to-day at dinner, at my house, the 
Lady Dowager Colvill, and Lady Anne Erskine, sisters 
of the Earl of Kelly ; the Honourable Archibald Ers- 
kine,who has now succeeded to that title ; Lord Elibank ; 
the Reverend Dr. Blair ; Mr. Tytler, the acute vindica- 
tor of Mary Queen of Scots, and some other friends. 

Fingal being talked of. Dr. Johnson, who used to 
boast that he had, from the first, resisted both Ossian 
and the Giants of Patagonia, averred his positive disbe- 
lief of its authenticity. Lord Elibank said, " 1 am sure 
it is not M'Pherson's. Mr. Johnson, I keep company 
a great deal with you ; it is known I do. I may bor- 
row from you better things than I can say myself, and 
give them as my own ; but, if I should, every body 
will know whose thev are." — The Doctor was not sof- 
tened by this compliment. He denied merit to Fingal, 
supposing it to be the production of a man who has had 
the advantages that the present age affords ; and said, 
*' nothing is more easy than to write enough in that 
style, if once you begin."* — One gentleman in com- 
pany expressing his opinion *' that Fingal was certamly 

* I desire not to be understood as agreeing entirely with the opinions of Dr. 
johnsonj whicVi I relate withouc any remark. The many imitations, however, 
of Fingal, that have been published, ccnfinn this observation in a considerable 
degree. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 377 

genuine ; for that he had heard a great part of it repeated 
in the original." Dr. Johnson indignantly asked him, 
whether he understood the original ; to which an an- 
swer being given in the negative, " Why then, (said 
Dr. Johnson,) we see to what this testimony comes : — • 
thus it is." 

I mention this as a remarkable proof how liable the 
mind of man is to credulity, when not guarded by such 
strict examination as that which Dr. Johnson habitually 
practised. The talents and integrity of the gentleman 
who made the remark, are unquestionable ; yet, had not 
Dr. Johnson made him advert to the consideration, that 
he who does not understand a language, cannot know 
that something which is recited to him is in that lan- 
guage, he might have believed, and reported to this 
hour, that he had " heard a great part of T^m^a/ repeated 
in the original." 

For the satisfaction of those on the north of the 
Tweed, who may think Dr. Johnson's account of 
Caledonian credulity and inaccuracy too strong, it is but 
fair to add, that he admitted the same kind of ready 
belief might be found in his own country. "He would 
undertake, (he said,) to write an epick poem on the . 
story of Robin Hood^ and half England, to whom the 
names and places he should mention in it are familiar,, 
would believe and declare they had heard it from their 
earliest years." 

One of his objections to the authenticity of Fingal, 
during the conversation at Ulinish, is omitted in my 
Journal, but I perfectly recollect it. — " Why is not 
the original deposited in some publick library, instead of 
exhibiting attestations of its existence ? Suppose there 
were a question in a court of justice, whether a man be 
dead or alive : You aver he is alive, and you bring fifty 

3 c 



^78 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

witnesses to swear it : I answer, " Why do you not pro> 
duce the man ?" — This is an argument founded on one 
of the first principles of the laxv of evidence, which Gii- 
bert would have held to be irrefragable. 

I do not think it incumbent on me to give any precise 
decided opinion upon this question, as to which I believe 
more than some, and less than others. The subject ap- 
pears to have now become very uninteresting to the 
publick. That i^?V2^'«/ is not from beginning to end a 
translation from the Gallick, but that some passages have 
been supplied by the editor to connect the whole, I have 
heard admitted by very warm advocates for its authen- 
ticity. If this be the case^ why are not these distinctly 
ascertained? Antiquaries, and admirers of the work, 
may complain, that they are in a situation similar to that 
of the unhappy gentleman v/hose wife informed him, 
on her death- bed, that one of their reputed children was 
not his: and, when he eagerly begged her to declare 
which of them it was, she answered, " That you shall 
never know ;" and expired, leaving him in irreme- 
diable doubt as to them alL 

I beg leave now to say something upon second sights 
of which I have related two instances, as they impressed 
my mind at the time. I own, I returned from the 
Hebrides with a considerable degree of faith in many 
stories of that kind which I heard with a too easy acqui- 
escence, without any close exa^mination of the evi- 
dence : but, since that time, my belief in those stories 
has been much weakened, by reflecting on the careless 
inaccuracy of narrative in common matters, from which 
we may certainly conclude that there may be the same 
in what is more extraordinary. — It is but just, however, 
to add, that the belief in second sight is not peculiar to 
the Highlands and Isles. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. S79 

Some years after our Tour, a cause was tried in the 
Court of Session, where the principal fact to be ascer- 
tained was, whether a ship-master, who used to frequent 
the Western Highlands and Isles, was drowned in one 
partickiar year, or in the year after. A great number 
o£ witnesses from those parts were examined on each 
side, and swore directly contrary to each other, upon 
this simple question. One of them, a very respectable 
Chieftain, who told me a story of second sight, which 
I have not mentioned, but which I too implicitly believ- 
ed, had in this case, previous to this publick examina- 
tion, not only said, but attested under his hand, that he 
had seen the ship-master in the year subsequent to that 
in which the court was finally satisfied he was drowned. 
When interrogated with the strictness of judicial inquiry, 
and under the awe of an oath, he recollected himself 
better, and retracted what he had formerly assertedj 
apologising for his inaccuracy, by telling the judges, 
" A man will sa7/ what he will not swear.''^ — By many 
he was much censured, and it was maintained that every 
arentleman would be as attentive to truth without the 
sanction of an oath, as with it. Dr. Johnson, though 
he himself was distinguished at all times by a scrupu- 
lous adherence to truth, controverted this proposition ; 
and, as a proof that this was not, though it ought to be, 
the case, urged the very different decisions of elections 
under Mr. Grenville's Act, from those formerly made. 
" Gentlemen will not pronounce upon oath, what they 
would have said, and voted in the house, without that 
sanction." 

However difficult it may be for men v^^ho believe in 
preternatural communications, in modern times, to satisfy 
those who are of a different opinion, they may easily 
refute the doctrine of their opponents, who impute a 



380 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

belief mseamd sight to superstition. To entertain a 
visionary notion that one sees a distant or future event, 
may be called superstition ; but the correspondence of 
the fact or event with such an impression on the fancy, 
though certainly very wonderful, if proved^ has no 
more connection with superstition, than magnetism or 
electricity. 

After dinner, various topicks were discussed ; but I 
recollect only one particular. Dr. Johnson compared 
the different talents of Garrick and Foote, as compa- 
nions, and gave Garrick greatly the preference for 
elegance, though he allowed Foote extraordinary pow- 
ers of entertainment. He said, " Garrick is restrained 
by some principle ; but Foote has the advantage of an 
unlimited range. Garrick has some delicacy of feeling ; 
it is possible to put him out ; you may get the better of 
him ; but Foote is the most incompressible fellow that 
I ever knew : when you have driven him into a corner, 
and think you are sure of him, he runs through between 
your legs, or jumps over your head, and makes his 
escape." 

Dr. Erskine and Mr. Robert Walker, two very re- 
spectable ministers of Edinburgh, supped with us, as 
did the Reverend Dr. Webster. — The conversation 
turned on the Moravian missions, and on the Metho- 
dists. Dr. Johnson observed in general, that missiona- 
ries were too sanguine in their accounts of their success 
among savages, and that much of what they tell is not 
to be believed. He owned that the Methodists had done 
good ; had spread religious impressions among the vul- 
gar part of mankind : but, he said, they had great bit- 
terness against other Christians, and that he could never 
get a Methodist to explain in what he excelled others ; 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 381 

that it always ended in the indispensible necessity of 
hearing one of their preachers. 

Thursday, X\th November. 

Principal Robertson came to us as we sat at break- 
fast : he advanced to Dr. Johnson, repeating a line of 
Virgil, which I forget. I suppose, either 



or 



Post varios casus, per tot discrimina rei'um,^ — 
— 7nultum ille et terris jactatics, et alto.-\ 



Every body had accosted us with some studied compli- 
ment on our return. Dr. Johnson said, " I am really 
ashamed of the congratulations which we receive. We 
are addressed as if we had made a voyage to Nova Zem- 
bla, and suffered five persecutions in Japan." And he 
afterwards remarked, that " to see a man come up with 
a formal air, and a Latin line, when we had no fatigue 
and no danger, was provoking." — I told him, he was not 
sensible of the danger, having lain under cover in the 
boat during the storm : he was like the chicken, that 
hides its head under its wing, and then thinks itself safe. 
Lord Elibank came to us, as did Sir William Forbes. 
The rash attempt in 1745 being mentioned, I observed, 
that it would make a fine piece of history. Dr. Johnson 
said it would. Lord Elibank doubted whether any man 
of this age coul i give it impartially. — Johnson. " A man 
by talking with those of different sides, who were actors 
in it, and putting down all that he hears, may in time 
collect the materials of a good narrative. You are to 

* Through various hazards and events we move. 

f Long labours both by sea and land he bore. Dryden. 



382 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

consider, all history was at first oral. I suppose Vol- 
taire was fifty years in collecting his Louis XIF, which 
he did in the way that I am proposing." — Robertson. 
" He did so. He lived much with all the great people 
who were concerned in that reign, and heard them talk 
of every thing ; and then either took Mr. Boswell's wdiy-, 
of writing down what he heard, or, which is as good, 
preserved it in his memory ; for he has a wonderful 
memory." — With the leave, however, of this elegant 
historian, no man's memory can preserve facts or sayings 
with such fidelity as may be done by writing them down 
when they are recent. — Dr. Robertson said, "It was now 
full time to make such a collection as Dr. Johnson sug- 
gested ; for many of the people who were then in arms, 
were dropping off*; and both Whigs and Jacobites were 
now come to talk with moderation." — Lord Elibank said 
to him, " Mr Robertson, the first thing that gave me a 
high opinion of you, was your saying in the Select So- 
ciety,* while parties ran high, soon after the year 1745, 
that you did not think worse of a man's moral character 
for his having been in rebellion. This was venturing 
to utter a liberal sentiment, while both sides had a de- 
testation of each other." 

Dr. Johnson observed, that being in rebellion from a 
notion of another's right, was not connected with de- 
pravity ; and that we had this proof of it, that all man- 
kind applauded the pardoning of rebels ; which they 
would not do in the case of robbers and murderers. He 
said, with a smile, that " he wondered that the phrase 
of unnatural rebellion should be so much used, for that 
all rebellion was natural to man." 

*"" A societv for deb3.te in Edinbuvg-h, consistjr.g of the most eminent men. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 383 

As I kept no journal of any thing that passed after 
this morning, I shall, from memory, group together this 
and the other days, till that on which Dr. Johnson depart- 
ed for London. They were in all nine days ; on which 
he dined at Lady Colvill's, Lord Hailes's, Sir Adolphus 
Oughton's, Sir Alexander Dick's, Principal Robert- 
son's, Mr. M'Laurin's, and thrice at Lord Elibank's 
seat in the country, where we also passed two nights. 
He supped at the Honourable Alexander Gordon's, now 
one of our judges, at Mr. Nairne's, Dr. Blair's and Mr. 
Tytler's ; and at my house thrice, — one evening with a 
numerous company, chiefly gentlemen of the law j ano- 
ther with Mr. Menzies of Culdares, and Lord Monbod- 
do, who disengaged himself on purpose to meet him ; 
and the evening on which we returned from Lord Eli- 
bank's he supped with my vvife and me, by ourselves. 

He breakfasted at Dr. Webster's, at old Mr. Drum- 
mond's, and at Dr. Blacklock's; and spent one fore- 
noon at my uncle Dr. Boswell's who shewed hun his 
curious museum ; and, as he was an elegant scholar, 
and a physician bred in the school of Boerliaave, Dr. 
Johnson was pleased with his company. 

On the mornings when he breakfasted at my house, 
he had, from ten o'clock till one or two, a constant 
levee of various persons, of very different characters and 
descriptions. I could not attend him, being obliged to 
be in the Court of Session ; but my wife was so good 
as to devote the greater part of the morning to the end- 
less task of pouring out tea for my friend and his vi-. 
sitors. 

Such was the disposition of his time at Edinburgh, 
He said one evening to me, in a fit of languor, " Sir, 
we have been harassed by invitations." T acquiesced. 



384 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

" Ay, sir, he replied ; but how much worse would it 
have been, if we had been neglected ?" 

From what has been recorded in this Journal, it may 
well be supposed that a variety of admirable conversa- 
tion has been lost, by my neglect to preserve it.— I 
shall endeavour to recollect some of it, as well as I can. 

At Lady ColvilPs, to whom I am proud to intro- 
duce any stranger of eminence, that he may see what 
dignity and grace is to be found in Scotland, an officer 
observed, that he had heard Lord Mansfield was not a 
great English lawyer. — Johnson. " Why, sir, supposing 
Lord Mansfield not to have the splendid talents which 
he possesses, he must be a great English lawyer, from 
having been so long at the bar, and having passed 
through so many of the great offices of the law. Sir, 
you may. as well maintain that a carrier, who has driven 
a pack-horse between Edinburgh and Berwick for thirty 
years, does not know the road, as that Lord Mansfield 
does not know the law of England." 

At Mr. Nairne's, he drew the character of Richard- 
son, the author of Clarissa^ with a strong yet delicate 
pencil. I lament much that I have not preserved it : I 
only remember that he expressed a high opinion of his 
talents and virtues ; but observed, that " his perpetual 
study was to ward off petty inconveniences, and procure 
petty pleasures ; that his love of continual superiority 
was such, that he took care to be always surrounded by 
women, who listened to him implicitly, and did not ven- 
ture to controvert his opinions ; and that his desire of 
distinction was so great, that he used to give large vails 
to the Speaker Onslow's servants, that they might treat 
him with respect." 

On the same evening, he would not allow that the 
private life of a judge, in England, was required to be 



• TO THE HEBRIDES, 385 

sp strictly decorous as I supposed. " Why then, sir, 
(said I,) according to your account, an English judge 
may just live like a gentleman." Johnson. " Yes, sir, 
— if he can.'''' 

At Mr. Tytler's, I happened to tell that one even- 
ing, a great many years ago, when Dr. Hugh Blair and 
I were sitting together in the pit of Drury-lane play- 
house, in a wild freak of youthful extravagance, I en- 
tertained the audience prodigiously^ by imitating the 
lowing of a cow. A little while after I had told this 
story, I differed from Dr. Johnson, I suppose too confi- 
dently, upon some point, which I now forget. He did 
not spare me. " Nay, sir, (said he,) if you cannot talk 
better as a man, I'd have you bellow like a cow."* 

At Dr. Webster's, he said, that he believed hardly 
any man died without affectation. This remark ap- 
pears to me to be well founded, and will account for 
many of the celebrated death-bed sayings which are re- 
corded. 

On one of the evenings at my house, when he told 
that Lord Lovat boasted to an English nobleman, that 
though he had not his w-ealth, he had two thousand men 
whom he could at any time call into the field, the Hon- 
ourable Alexander Gordon observed, that those two 
thousand men brought him to the block. — •" True, sir, 
(said Dr. Johnson : ) but you may just as well argue, 
concerning a man who has fallen over a precipice to 



• As I have been scrupulously exact in relating anecdotes concerning other 
persons, I shall not withhold any part of this story, however ludicrous. — I was so, 
successful in this boyish frolick, that the univei-sal cry of the galleries was, *• En- 
core the cow ! Encore the cow !" In the pride of my heart, I attempted imitations 
of some other animals, but with very inferior effect. My reverend friend, anxi 
ous for vajfame, with an air of the utmost gravity and earnestness, addressed me, 
tliiis : " My dear sir, I would confine myself to the cavi !" 

3. n 



S86 JOURNAL OF A TOUR . 

which he has walked too near,—' His two legs brought 
him to that.' Is he not the better for having two legs?'' 
At Dr. Blair's I left him, in order to attend a con- 
sultation, during which he and his amiable host were by 
themselves. I returned to supper, at which were Prin- 
cipal Robertson, Mr. Nairne, and some other gentle- 
men. Dr. Robertson and Dr. Blair, I remember, talk- 
ed well upon subordination and government ; and, as 
my friend and I were walking home, he said to me, 
** Sir, these two doctors are good men, and wise men." 
— I begged of Dr. Blair to recollect what he could of 
the long conversation that passed between Dr. Johnson 
and him alone, this evening, and he obligingly wrote to. 
me as follows : 

" Dear Sir, March 3, 1785. 

" — AS so many years have intervened, since I 
chanced to have that conversation with Dr. Johnson in 
my house, to which you refer, I have forgotten most of 
what then passed, but remember that I was both in- 
structed and entertained by it. Among other subjects, 
the discourse happening to turn on modern Latin poets, 
the Doctor expressed a very favourable opinion of 
Buchanan, and instantly repeated, from beginning to 
end, an ode of his, intituled, Calenda Maies, (the 
Seventh in his Miscellaneorum Liber,) beginning with 
these words,- * Salvete sacris aeliciis sacra,'* with which 
I had formerly been unacquainted ; but, upon perusing 
it, the praise which he bestowed upon it, as one of the 
happiest of Buchanan's poetical compositions, appeared 
to me very just. He also repeated to me a Latin ode 
he had composed in one of the Western Islands, from 
which he had lately returned. We had much discourse 
concerning his excursion to those islands, with which he 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 387 

expressed himself as having been highly pleased ; talk- 
ed in a favourable manner of die hospitality of the inha- 
bitants ; and particularly spoke much of his happiness 
in having you for his companion, and said, that the 
longer he knew you, he loved and esteemed you the 
more. This conversation passed in the interval between 
tea and supper, when we were by ourselves. You, 
and the rest of the company who were with us at sup- 
per, have often taken notice that he was uncommonly 
bland and gay that evening, and gave much pleasure 
to all who were present. — This is all that I can recol- 
lect distinctly of that long conversation. 

" Yours sincerely, 

"Hugh Blair." 

At Lord Hailes's, we spent a most agreeable day ; 
but again I must lament that I was so indolent as to let 
almost all that passed evaporate into oblivion. Dr. John- 
son observed there, that " it is wonderful how ignorant 
many officers of the army are, considering how much 
leisure they have for study, and the acquisition of know- 
ledge." I hope he was mistaken ; for he maintained 
that many of them were ignorant of things belonging 
immediately to their own profession ; "for instance, 
many cannot tell how far a musket will carry a bullet ;" 
in proof of which, I suppose he mentioned some par- 
ticular person, for Lord Hailes, from whom I solicit- 
ed what he could recollect of that day, writes to me as 
follows : 

" As to Dr. Johnson's observation about the ig- 
norance of officers in the length that a musket will 
carry, my brother. Colonel Dalrymple, was present, 
and he thought that the doctor was either mistaken, by 



368 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

putting the question wrong, or that he had conversed 
on the subject; with some person out of service. 

" Was it upon that occasion that he expressed no 
curiosity to see the room at Dunfermhne, where 
Charles I. was bom ? ' I know that he was bom, (said 
he ;) no matter where.' — Did he envy us the birth-place 
of the king?" 

Near the end of his " Journey," Dr. Johnson has 
given liberal praise to Mr. Braidwood's academy for the 
-deaf and dumb. When he visited it, a circumstance 
occurred which was truly characteristical of our great 
Lexicographer. " Pray, (said he,) can they pronounce 
any long words ? — Mr. Braidwood informed him they 
could. Upon which Dr. Johnson wrote one of his 
sesquipedalia verba, which was pronounced by the 
scholars, and he was satisfied. — My readers may per- 
haps wish to know what the word was ; but I cannot 
gratify their curiosity. Mr. Braidwood told me, it re- 
mained long in his school, but had been lost before I 
made my inquiry.* 

Dr. Johnson one day visited the Court of Session. 
He thought the mode of pleading there too vehement, 
and too much addressed to the passions of the judges. 
" This (said he) is not the Areopagus." 

At old Mr Drummond's, Sir John Dalrymple quaint- 
ly said, the two noblest minded animals in the world 

* One of the best criticks of our age " does not wish to prevent the admirers 
of the incorrect and nerveless style, which generally prevailed for a century before 
Dr. Johnson's energetick writings were known, from enjoying the laugh that this 
story may produce, in which he is very ready to join them." He, however, re- 
quests me to observe, that " my friend very properly chose a lon^ word on this 
occasion, not, it is believed, frMn any predilection for pollysyllables, (though he 
certainly had a due respect for them,) but in order to put Mr. Braidwood's skill 
to the strictest test, and to fry the efficacy of his insti'ucticn by the most difficult 
exfertion of the organs of^lu&ipupib.". 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 5.8P 

were, a Scotch Highlander, and an English Sailor, 
" Why, sir, said Dr. Johnson, I shall say nothing as to 
the Scotch Highlander, but as to the English Sailor, I 
cannot agree with you." — Sir John said he was generous 
in giving away his money. — Johnson. " Sir, he throws 
away his money, without thought, and without merit. 
I do not call a tree generous, that sheds its fruit at every 
breeze." — Sir John having affected to complain of the 
attacks made upon his Memoirs, Dr. Johnson said, / 
" Nay, sir, do not complain. It is advantageous to an / 
authour, that his book should be attacked as well as 
praised. Fame is a shuttlecock. If it be struck only 
at one end of the room, it will soon fall to the ground,. 
To keep it up, it must be struck at both ends." — Often 
have I reflected on this since ; and instead, of being an- 
gry at many of those who have written against me, have 
smiled to think that they were unintentionally subser- 
vient to my fame, by using a battledoor to make me 
virum, volitare per ora. 

At Sir Alexander Dick's, from that absence of mind - / 
to which every man is at times subject, I told, in a blun- 
dering manner,Lady Eglintoune's complimentary adop- 
tion of Dr. Joluison as her son ; for I unfortunately 
stated that her ladyship adopted him as her son, in con- 
sequence of her having been married the year ajter he 
was born. Dr. Johnson instantly corrected me. " Sir, 
don't you perceive that you are defaming the countess ? 
For, supposing me to be her son, and that she was not 
married till the year after my birth, I must hav€ been 
her natural son." A young lady of quality, who was' 
present, very handsomely said, " Might not the son have 
justified the fault V — My friend was much flattered by 
this compliment, which he never forgot. When in more 
than ordinary spirits, and talking of his journey in Scot^ 



390 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

land, he has called to me, *' Boswelll, what was it that 
the young hidy of quality said to me at Sir Alexander 
Dick's ?" Nobody will doubt that I was happy in re- 
peating it. 

My illustrious friend, being now desirous to be again 
in the great theatre of life and animated exertion, took 
a place in the coach, which was to set out for London 
on Monday the 22d of November. Sir John Dairy mple 
pressed him to come on the Saturday before, to his 
house at Cranston, which being twelve miles from Edin- 
burgh, upon the middle road to Newcasde, (Dr. John- 
son had come to Edinburgh by Berwick, and along the 
naked coast,) it would make his journey easier, as the 
coach would take him up at a more seasonable hour 
than that at which it sets out. Sir John, I perceived, 
was ambitious of having such a guest ; but, as I was 
well assured, that at this very time he had joined with 
some of his prejudiced countrymen in railing at Dr. 
Johnson, and had said, " he wondered how any gentle- 
man of Scotland could keep company with him," I 
thought he did not deserve the honour : yet as it might 
be a convenience to Dr. Johnson, I contrived that he 
should accept the invitation, and engaged to conduct 
him, I resolved that on our way to Sir John's, we 
should make a little circuit by Roslin castle and Haw- 
thornden, and wished to set out soon after breakfast ; 
but young Mr. Tytler came to shew Dr. Johnson some 
essays which he had written ; and my great friend, who 
was exceedingly obliging when thus consulted, was de- 
tained so long that it was, I believe, one o'clock before 
we got into our post-chaise. I found that we should be 
too late for dinner at Sir John Dalrymple's, to which 
we were engaged : but I would by no means lose the 
pleasure of seeing my friend at Hawthornden, — of see- 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 391 

ing Sam Johnson at the very spot where Ben Johnson^ 
visited the learned and poetical Drummond. 

We surveyed Roslin castle, the romantick scene 
around it and the beautiful Gothick chapel, and dined 
and drank tea at the inn ; after which we proceeded to 
Hawthornden, and viewed the caves ; and I all the while 
had Rare Ben in my mind, and was pleased to think 
that this place was now visited by another celebrated 
wit of England. 

By this time " the waning night was growing old," 
and we were yet several miles from Sir John Dalrym- 
pie's. Dr. Johnson did not seem much troubled at our 
having treated the baronet with so little attention to po- 
liteness ; but when I talked of the grievous disappoint- 
ment, it must have been to him that we did not come to 
^Q, feast that he had prepared for us, (for he told us he 
had killed a seven-year-old sheep on purpose,) my friend 
got into a merry mood, and jocularly said, " I dare say, 
sir, he has been very sadly distressed : Nay, we do not 
know but the consequence may have been fatal. Let 
me try to describe his situation in his own historical 
style. I have as good a right to make him think and 
talk, as he has to tell us how people thought and talked 
a hundred years ago, of which he has no evidence. All 
history, so far as it is not supported by contemporary 
evidence, is romance. — Stay now. — Let us consider !" 
He then (heartily laughing all ^the while) proceeded in 
his imitation, I am sure to the following effect, though 
now, at the distance of almost twelve years, I cannot 
pretend to recollect all the precise words : 

" Dinner being ready, he wondered that his guests 
*' were not yet come. His wonder was soon succeeded 
" by impatience. He walked about the room in anxious 
"agitation ; sometimes he looked at his watch, some- 



392 JOURNAL OP A TOUR 

^* times he looked out at the window with an eager gaze 
" of expectation, and revolved in his mind the various 
" accidents of human life. His family beheld him with 
" mute concern. ' Surely (said he, with a sigh,) they 
" will not fail me.' — The mind of man can bear a cer- 
" tain pressure ; but there is a point when it can bear no 
" more. A rope was in his view, and he died a Roman 
" death."* 

It was very late before we reached the seat of Sir 
John Dalrymple, who, certainly with some reason was 
not in very good humour. Our conversation was not 
brilliant. We supped, and went to bed in ancient 
rooms, which would have better suited the climate of 
Italy in summer, than that of Scotland in the month of 
November. 

I recollect no conversation of the next day, worth 
preserving, except one saying of Dr. Johnson, which 
will be a valuable text for man}^ decent old dowagers, 
and other good company, in various circles, to descant 
upon.— He said, " I am sorry I have not learnt to play 
at cards. It is very useful in life ; it generates kind- 
ness, and consolidates society." — He certainly could 
not mean deep play. 

My friend and I thought we should be more com- 
fortable at the inn at Blackshiels, two miles farther on. 
We therefore went thither in the evening, and he was 
very entertaining ; but I have preserved nothing but 
the pleasing remembrance, and his verses on George 

* " Essex was at that tune confined to the same chamber of the Tower from 
\Th'.ch his father Lord Capel had been led to death, and in which his wife's grand- 
father had inflicted a voluntary death upon himself. When he saw his friend 
carried to what he reckoned certain fate, their common enemies enjoying the 
spectacle, and reflected that it was he who had forced Lord Howard upon the 
confidence of Russel.he retired, and, by a Roman death, put an end to his misery." 
Dalrymple's Memoirs of Great-Britain and Ireland, Vol. 1. p. 36- 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 39.3 

rche Second and Gibber, and his epitaph on Parnell, 
which he was then so good as to dictate to me. 

We breakfasted togethei- next morning, and then 
the coach came, and took him up. He had, as one of 
his companions in it, as far as Newcastle, tlie worthy and 
ingenious Dr. Hope, botanical professor at Edinburgh. 
Both Dr. Johnson and he used to speak of their good 
fortune in thus accidentaHy meeting; for they had much 
instructive conversation, which is always a most valua- 
ble enjoyment, and, when found where it is not expect- 
ed, is peculiarly relished. 

I have now completed my account of our Tour to 
the Hebrides. I have brought Dr. Johnson down to 
Scotland, and seen him into the coach which in a few 
hours carried him back into England, He said to me 
often, that the time he spent in this Tour was the plea- 
santest part of his life, and asked me if I would lose the 
recollection of it for five hundred pounds. I answered 
I would not; and he applauded my setting such a value 
on an accession of new images in my mind. 

Had it not been for me, I am persuaded Dr. John- 
son never would have undertaken such a journey ; and 
I must be allowed to assume some merit, from having 
been the cause that our language has been enriched with 
such a book as that which he published on his return .; 
a book Avhich I never read but with the utmost admira- 
tion, as I had such opportunities of knowing from what 
very meagre materials it was composed. 

But my praise may be supposed partial ; and there- 
fore I shall insert two testimonies, not liable to that ob- 
jection, both written by gentlemen of Scotland, to whose 
opinions I am confident the highest respect will be paid, 
Lord Hailes, and Mr. Dempster. 

3 E 



394 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

To James Boswell, Esq. 

" Sir, 

"I have received much pleasure, and much 
instruction, from perusing " The Journey" to the He- 
brides. 

*' I admire the elegance and variety of description, 
and the lively picture of men and manners. I always 
approve of the moral, often of the political, reflections. 
I love the benevolence of the author. 

*' They who search for faults, may possibly find 
them in this, as well as in every other work of litera- 
ture. 

" For example, the friends of the old family say that 
the ara of planting is placed too late, at the Union of 
the two kingdoms. I am known to be no friend of the 
old family ; yet I would place the sera of planting at the 
Restoration; after the murder of Charles I, had been 
expiated in the anarchy which succeeded it. 

*' Before the Restoration, few trees were planted, 
unless by the monastick drones : their successors, (and 
worthy patriots they were,) the barons, first cut down 
the trees, and then sold the estates. The gentleman at 
St. Andrews, who said that there were but two trees in 
Fife, ought to have added, that the elms of Balmerino 
were sold within these twenty years, to make pumps for 
the fire-engines. 

" In J. Major de Gestis Scotorum, L. i, C. 2, last 
edition, there is a singular passage : 

" Davidi Cranstoneo conterraneo, dum de prima 
" theologise licentia foret, duo ei consocii et familiares, 
" et mei cum eo in artibus auditores, scilicet Jacobus 
" Almain Senonensis, et Petrus Bruxceliensis, Prsedi- 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 395 

** catoris ordinis, in Sorbonae curia die Sorbonico com- 
" militonibus suis publice objecerunt, quod pane avena- 
" ceo plebeii Scoti, sicut a quodam religiose intellexe- 
*' rant, vescebantur, ut virum, quern cholericum nave- 
^' ranty konestis salibus tentarent, qui hoc injiciari tan- 
** quam patria dedecus nisus est." 

*' Pray introduce our countryman, Mr. Licentiate 
David Cranston, to the acquaintance of Mr. Johnson. 
" The syllogysm seems to have been this: 
They who feed on oatmeal are barbarians; 
^ But the Scots feed on oatmeal : 

Ergo — 
The licentiate denied the minor. 
" I am, sir, 
^* Your most obedient servant, 

*' Dav. Dalrymple." 

Newhailes, 6th February, 1775. 

To James Boswell, Esq. Edinburgh. 

Dunnichen, 16th February, 17fo. 

" 3iy dear Boswelly 

" I cannot omit a moment to return you my best thanks 
for the entertainment you have furnished me, my family, 
and guests, by the perusal of Dr. Johnson's " Journey 
to the Western Islands ;" — and now for my sentiments 
of it. — I was well entertained. His descriptions are ac- 
curate and vivid. He carried me on the Tour along 
with him. I am pleased with the justice he has done 
to your humour and vivacity. " The noise of the wind 
being all its own," is a bon-?not, that it would have been 
a pity to have omitted, and a robbery not to have as- 
cribed to its author. 

" There is nothing in the book, from beginning to 
end, that a Scotchman need to take amiss. What he 
savs of the countrv is true, and his observations on the 



396 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

people are what must naturally occur to a sensible, ob'- 
serving, and reflecting inhabitant of a convenient Me- 
tropolis, where a man on thirty pounds a year may be 
better accommodated with all the little wants of life, 
than Col or Sir Alla7i. He reasons candidly about the 
second sight ; but I wish he had enqijired more, before 
he ventured to say he even doubted of the possibility of 
such an unusual and useless deviation from all the known, 
laws of nature. Tl>e notion of the second sight I con- 
sider as a remnant of superstitious ignorance and cre- 
dulity which a philosopher will set down as such, till thq^ 
contrary is clearly proved, and then it will be classed 
among the other certain, though unaccountable, parts ©f 
our nature, like dreams, and— I do not know what. 

" In regard to the language, it has the merit of being 
all his ow^n. Many words of foreign extraction are used, 
where, I believe, common ones would do as well, espe- 
cially on familiar occasions. Yet I believe he could not 
express himself so forcibly in any other stile. I am 
charmed with his researches concerning the Erse lan- 
guage, and the antiquity of their manuscripts. I am 
quite convinced ; and I shall rank Ossian, and his Fingals 
and Oscars^ amongst the Nursery Tales, not the true 
history of our country, in all time to come. 

'^' Upon the whole, the book cannot displease, for it 
I^as no pretensions. The author neither says he is a Ge- 
ographer, nor an Antiquarian, nor very learned in the 
History of Scotland, nor a Naturalist, nor a Fossilist. 
The manners of the people, and the face of the country^ 
are all he attempts to describe, or seems to have thought 
of. Much were it to be wished, that they who have 
travelled into more remote, and of course more curious 
regions, had all possessed his good sense. Of the state 
of learning, his observations on Glasgow university 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 397 

shew he has formed a very sound judgment. He un- 
derstands our climate too, and he has accurately observ- 
ed the changes, however slow and imperceptible to us, 
which Scotland has undergone, in consequence of the 
blessings of liberty and internal peace. I could have 
drawn my pen through the story of the old woman at 
St. Andrews, being the only silly thing in the book. He 
has taken the opportunity of engrafting into the work 
several good observations, which I dare say he had made 
upon men and things, before he set foot on Scotch 
ground, by which it is considerably enriched.* A long 
journey, like a tall May-pole, though not very beautiful 
itself, yet is pretty enough, when ornamented with flow- 
ers and garlands r it furnishes a sort of cloak-pins for 
hanging the furniture of your mind upon ; and whoever 
sets out upon a journey, without furnishing his mind 
previously with much study and useful knowledge, erects 
a May-pole in December, and puts up very useless 
cloak-pins. 

" I hope the book will induce many of his country • 
men to make the same jaunt, and help to intermix the 
more liberal part of them still more with us, and per- 
haps abate somewhat of that virulent antipatliy which 
many of them entertain against the Scotch ; who cer- 
tainly would never have formed those comhmathns 
which he takes notice of, more than tlieir ancestors, had 
they not been necessary for their mutual safety, at least 
for their success in a country where thev are treated as 
foreigners. They would find us not deficient, at least 

* Mr. Orme, one of the ablest historians of this age, is of the same opiniou. X^" 
He said to me, " There are in that book thoughts, wliich, by long revolution \\\ 
the great mind of Johnson, have been formed and pornhcl, — lik? pebbles voi'rd 
in the ocean '/' 



398 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

in point of hospitality, and they would be ashamed ever 
after to abuse us in the mass. 

" So much for the Tour. — I have now, for the first 
time in my life, passed a winter in the country ; and 
never did three months roll on with more swiftness and 
satisfaction. I used not only to wonder at, but pity, 
those whose lot condemned them to winter any where 
but in either of the capitals. But every place has its 
charms to a cheerful mind. I am busy, planting and 
taking measures for opening the summer campaign in 
farming ; and I find I have an excellent resource, when 
revolutions in politicks perhaps, and revolutions of the 
sun for certain, will make it decent for me to retreat be- 
hind the ranks of the more forward in life. 

" I am glad to hear the last was a very busy week 
with you. I see you as counsel in some causes, which 
must have opened a charming field for your humorous 
vein. As it is more uncommon, so I verily believe it is 
more useful than the moi^e serious exercise of reason ; 
and to a man who is to appear in publick, more eclat is 
to be gained, sometimes more money too, by a bon-mot 
than a learned speech. It is the fund of natural humour 
which Lord North possesses, that makes him so much 
a favourite of the house, and so able, because so amia- 
JdIc, a leader of a party. 

" I have now finished my Tour of Seven Pages. In 
what remains, I beg leave to offer my compliments, and 
those of ma tres cherefemme, to you and Mrs. Boswell. 
Pray unbend the busy brow, and frolick a little in a let- 
ter to, 

"My dear Boswell, 

" Your affectionate friend, 

" George Dempster."*' 

•* Evci-v redder wi'.l, I am cure,, join with me m warm adiiiiration of the trtiU' 



TO THE HEBRIDES. S99 

I shall also present the public k with a correspond- 
ence with the Laird of Rasay, concerning a passage in 
the Journey to the Western Islands, which shews Dr. 
Johnson in a very amiable light. 

To James Boswell, Esq. 

Rasay, April 10th, 1775. 

" Dear Sir, 

" I take this occasion of returning you my most 
hearty thanks for the civilities shown to my daughter by 
you and Mrs. Boswell. Yet, though she has informed 
me that I am under this obligation, I should very pro- 
bably have deferred troubling you with making my ac- 
knowledgements at present, if I had not seen Doctor 
Johnson's " Journey to the Western Isles," in which he 
has been pleased to make a very friendly mention of 
my family, for which I am surely obliged to him, as 
being more than an equivalent for the reception you 
and he met with. Yet there is one paragraph I should 
have been glad he had omitted, which I am sure was 
owing to misinformation ; that is, that I had acknow- 
ledged M'Leod to be my chief, though my ancestors 
disputed the pre-eminence for a long tract of time. 

" I never had occasion to enter seriously on this ar- 
gument with the present laird or his grandfather, nor 
could I have any temptation to such a renunciation from 
either of them. I acknowledge, the benefit of being 
chief of a clan is in our days of very litde significancy, 
and to trace out the progress of this honour to the foun- 

patriotick writer of tWs letter. I know not which most to ajiplaud, that good 

sense and liberality of mind, which could see and admit the defects of his native 
country, to which no man is a more zealous friend ;— or that candour, which in- 
duced him to give just praise to the minister whom he honesth- and strenuonsJv 
opposed. 



400 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

der of a family, of any standing, would perhaps be a 
matter of some difficulty. 

" The true state of the present case is this : the 
M'Leod family consists of two different branches ; the 
M'Leods of Lewis, of which I am descended, and the 
M'Leods of Harris. And though the former have lost 
a very extensive estate by forfeiture in king James the 
Sixth's time, there are still several respectable families 
of it existing, who would justly blame me for such an 
unmeaning cession, when they all acknowledged me 
head of that family ; which though in fact it be but an 
ideal point of honour, is not hitherto so far disregarded 
in our country, but it would determine some of my 
friends to look on me as a much smaller man than either 
they or myself judge me at present to be. I will, there- 
fore, ask it as a favour of you to acquaint the Doctor 
with the difficulty he has brought me to. In travelling 
among rival clans such a silly tale as this might easily 
be whispered into the ear of a passing stranger ; but as 
it has no foundation in fact, I hope the Doctor will be 
so good as to take his own way in undeceiving the pub- 
lick, I principally mean my friends and connections, 
who will be first angry at me, and next sorry to find 
such an instance of my littleness recorded in a book 
which has a vexy fair chance of being much read. I 
expect you will let me know what he will write you in 
return, and we here beg to make offer to you and Mrs. 
Boswell of our most respectful compliments. I am, 
" Dear sir, 
" Your most obedient humble servant, 

" John M'Leod.'^ 



•i ■' ."^i^- 



TfO THE HEBRIDES. 401*' 

To THE Laird of Rasay. 

London, May 8, 1775. 

*' Dear Sir, 

" THE day before yesterday I had the honour to 
receive your letter, and I immediately communicated it 
to Dr. Johnson. He said he loved your spirit, and was 
exceedingly sorry that he had been the cause of the 
smallest uneasiness to you. There is not a more can- 
did man in the world than he is, when properly address- 
ed, as you will see from his letter to you, which I now 
enclose. He has allowed me to take a copy of it, and 
he says you may read it to your clan, or publish it if you 
please. Be assured, sir, that I shall take care of what he 
has entrusted to me, which is to have an acknowledg- 
ment of his errour inserted in the Edinburgh news- 
papers. You will, I dare say, be fully satified with Dr. 
Johnson's behaviour. He is desirous to know that you 
are ; and therefore Avhen you have read his acknow- 
ledgment in the papers, I beg you may write to me ; 
and if you choose it, I am persuaded a letter from you 
to the Doctdr also will be taken kind. I shall be at 
Edinburgh the week after next. 

" Any civilities which my wife and I had it in our 
power to shew to your daughter, Miss M'Leod, were 
due to her own merit, and were well repaid by her 
agreeable company. But I am sure I should be a very 
unworthy man if I did not wish to shew a grateful sense 
of the hospitable and genteel manner in which you were 
pleased to treat me. Be assured, my dear sir, that I 
sticiiS never forget your goodness, and the happy hours 
which I spent in Rasay. 

" You and Dr. M'Leod were both so obliging as to 

3 F 



402 JOURNAL OF A TOUR 

promise me an account in writing of all the particulars 
which each of you remember, concerning the transactions 
of 1745-6. Pray do not forget this, and be as minute 
and full as you can ; put down every thing ; I have a 
great curiosity to know as much as I can, authentically. 
" 1 beg that you may present my best respects to 
lady Rasay, my compliments to your young family, and 
to Dr. M'Leod; and my hearty good wishes to Mai- 
-colm, with whom I hope to shake hands again cordially. 
1 have the honour to be, 

'' Dear Sir, 
" Your obliged and faithful humble servant, 

" James Boswell.''^ 

Advertisement, written by Dr. Johnson, and insert- 
ed by his desire in the Edinburgh newspapers : — Re- 
ferred to in the fc^egoing letter.* 

'^^ THE authour of the Journey to the Western Islands^ 
*^ having related that the M'' Lead's of Rasay ^ acknaw- 
" ledge the chieftainship or superiority of the M^Leods of 
" Sky^ finds that he has been misinformed or mistaken. 
*' He means in a future edition to correct his err our ^ and 
" wishes to be told of more ^ if more heme been discovered'"'' 

Dr. Johnson's Letter was as follows : 

To THE Laird of Rasay. 
" Dear Sir. 

" MR. Boswell has this day she^\Tl me a letter, in 
which you complain of a passage in " the Journey to the 
Hebrides." My meaning is mistaken. I did not in- 
tend to say that you had personally made any cession of 

* The original MS, is now in my possession 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 403 

the rights of your house, or any acknowledgment of the 
superiority of M'Leod of Dunvegan. I only designed 
to express what I thought generally admitted, — ^that the 
house of Rasay allowed the superiority of the house of 
Dunvegan, Even this I now find to be erroneous, and 
wjU therefore omit or retract it in the next edition. 

" Though what I had said had been true, if it had 
been disagreeable to you, I should have wished it un- 
said ; for it is not my business to adjust precedence. 
As it is mistaken, I find myself disposed to correct it, 
both by my respect for you, and my reverence for truth. 
*' As I know not when the book will be re-printed, 
I have desired Mr. Boswell to anticipate the correction 
in the Edinburgh papers. This is all that can be done. 
" I hope I may now venture to desire that my com- 
pliments may be made, and my gratitude expressed 
to Lady Rasay, Mr. Malcolm M'Leod, Mr. Donald 
M'Queen, and all the gentlemen and all the ladies whom 
I saw in the island of Rasay ; a place which I remem- 
ber with too much pleasure and too much kindness, not 
to be sorry that my ignorance, or hasty persuasion, 
should, for a single moment, have violated its tran- 
quillity. 

" I beg you all to forgive an undesigned and invo- 
luntary injury, and to consider me as, 
" Sir, your most obliged, 

" and most humble servant, 

*' Sam. Johnson."* 

London, May 6, 1775. 

" It would be improper for me to boast of my own 
labours ; but I cannot refrain from publishing such praise 

* Rasay was highly gratified, and afterwards visited and dined with Dr^ 
Johnson, at his house in London. 



404 JOURNAL OF A TOUit 

as 1 received from such a man as Sir William Forbes, 
of Pitsligo, after tlie perusal of the original manuscript 
of my Journal. 

To James BoswELL, Esq. 

Edinburgh, March 7, 1777. 

" Mt/ dear Sir, 

" I ought to have thanked you sooner, for your very 
obliging letter, and for the singular confidence you are 
pleased to place in me, when you trust me with such a 
curious and valuable deposite as the papers you have 
sent me.* Be assured I have a due sense of this favour, 
and shall faithfully and carefully return them to you. 
You may rely that I shall neither copy any part, nor 
permit the papers to be seen. 

" They contain a curious picture of society, and form 
a journal on the most instructive plan that can possibly 
be thought of; for I am not sure that an ordinary ob- 
server would become so well acquainted, either with 
Dr. Johnson, or with the manners of the Hebrides, by 
,a^ personal intercourse, as by a perusal of your Journal. 
"I am, very truly, 
" Dear Sir, 
" Your most obedient, 

" And affectionate humble servant, 

• " William Forbes." 

When I consider how many of the persons mention- 
ed in this Tour are now gone to *' that undiscovered 

* In justice both to Sir William Forbes and myself, it is proper to mention, 
that the papers which were submitted to his perusal contained only an account 
of our Tour from the time that Dr. Johnson and I set out from Edinburgh (p. 36^, 
and consequently did not contain the eulogium on Sir William Forbes (p. 12)^ 
which he never saw till this book appeared in print; nor did he even knov,% 
when he wrote the above letter, that this Journal was to be published. 



, ijro THE HEBRIDES. , 4QS 

country from whose bourne no traveller returns," I feel 
an impression at once awful and tender. — Requiescant 
in pace /* 

It may be objected by some persons, as it has been 
by one of my friends, that he who has the power of thus 
exhibiting an exact transcript of conversations is not a 
desirable member of society. I repeat the answer which 
I made to that friend : — " Few, very few, need be afraid 
that their sayings will be recorded. Can it be imagined 
that I would take the trouble to gather what grows on 
every hedge, because I have collected such fruits as the 
Nonpareil and the Bon Chretien?" 

On the other hand, how useful is such a faculty, if 
well exercised ! To it we owe all those interesting apo. 
thegms and memorabilia of the ancients, which Plutarch, 
Xenophon, and Valerius Maximus, have transmitted to 
us. To it we owe all those instructive and entertaining 
collections which the French have made under the title 
of Ana, affixed to some celebrated name. To it we owe 
the Table Talk of Selden, the Conversation between Ben 
Jonson and Drummond of Hawthornden, Spence's Anec- 
dotes of Pope, and other valuable remains in our own 
language. How delighted should we have been, if 
thus introduced into the company of Shakspeare and of 
Dry den, of whom we know scarcely any thing but their 
admirable writings ! What pleasure would it have given 
us, to have known their petty habits, their characteris- 
tick manners, their modes of composition, and their ge- 
nuine opinion of preceding writers and of their contem- 
poraries ! All these are now irrecoverably lost. — Consi- 
dering how many of the strongest and most brilliant 



* While these sheets -were passing through the press, my valuable friend Sh 
Alexander Dick, mentioned in p. 33, has been added to the numlier. 



406 JOURI^AL OF A TOUR 

effusions of exalted intellect must have perished, how 
much is it to be regretted that all men of distinguished 
wisdom and wit have not been attended by friends, of 
taste enough to relish, and abilities enough to register, 
their conversation I 

Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona 
JMulti, sed ovines illacrymabiles 
Urgentur^ ignotique longa 
Mode.) carent quia vote sacro. 

They whose inferiour exertions are recorded, as 
serving to explain or illustrate the sayings of such men, 
may be proud of being thus associated, and of their 
names being transmitted to posterity, by being append- 
ed to an illustrious character. 

Before I conclude, I think it proper to say, that I 
have suppressed^ every thing which I thought could 
really hurt any one now living. With respect to what 
is related, I considered it my duty " to extenuate no- 
thing, nor set down aught in malice ;" and with those 
lighter strokes of Dr. Johnson's satire, proceeding from 
a warmth and quickness of imagination, not from any 
malevolence of heart, and which, on account of their 
excellence, could not be omitted, I trust that they Avhp 
are the subject of them have good sense and good tem- 
per enough not to be displeased. 

I have only to add, that I shall ever reflect with great 
pleasure on a Tour, which has been the means of pre- 

* Having found, on a revision of this work, that, notwithstanding my best 
care, a few observations had escaped me, which arose from the instant impres- 
sion, the publication of whicli might perhaps be considered as passing the bound's 
of a strict decorum, I immediately ordered that they should be omitted in the pre- 
sent edition. If any of the same kind are yet left, it is owing to inadvertence 
aione, no man being more unwilling to give pain to others than I am. 



TO THE HEBRIDES. 407 

serving so much of the enlightened and instructive con- 
versation of one whose virtues will, I hope, ever be an 
object of imitation, and whose powers of mind were so 
extraordinary, that ages may revolve before such a man 
shall again appear. 



• 



APPENDIX. 

No. I. 



In justice to the ingenious Dr. Blacklock!, /publish 
thejbllowing letter from him, which did not come to 
my hands till this edition was nearly printed off. 



To James Boswell, Esq. 

Dear Sir, 

HAVING lately had the pleasure of reading your 
account of the journey which you took with Dr. Samuel 
Johnson to the Western Isles, I take the liberty of trans- 
mitting my ideas of the conversation which happened 
between the doctor and myself concerning Lexicography 
and Poetry, which, as it is a little different from the de- 
lineation exhibited in the former edition of your Journal, 
cannot, I hope, be unacceptable ; particularly since I 
have been informed that a second edition of that work 
is now in contemplation, if not in execution : and I am 
still more strongly tempted to encourage that hope, from 
considering that, if every one concerned in the conver- 
sations related, were to send you what they can recoL 
lect of these colloquial entertainments, many curious and 
interesting particulars might be recovered, which the 
most assiduous attention could not observe, nor the most 

I* 3 G 



410 APPENDIX. 

tenacious memory retain. A little reflection, sir, will 
convince you, that there is not an axiom in Euclid more 
intuitive nor more evident than the Doctor's assertion 
that poetry was of much easier execution than lexico- 
graphy. Any mind therefore endowed with common 
sense, must have been extremely absent from itself, if 
it discovered the least astonishment from hearing that a 
poem might be written with much more facility than 
the same quantity of a dictionary. The real cause of 
my surprise was, what appeared to me much more para- 
doxical, that he could write a sheet of a dictionary with 
as much pleasure as a sheet of poetry. He acknowledged, 
indeed, that the latter was much easier than the former. 
For in the one case, books and a desk were requisite ; 
in the other, you might compose when lying in bed, or 
walking in the fields, &c. He did not, however, descend 
to explain, nor to this moment can I comprehend, how^ 
the labours of a mere Philologist, in the most refined 
sense of that term, could give equal pleasure with the 
exercise of a mind replete with elevated conceptions, 
and pathetic ideas, while taste, fancy, and intellect were 
deeply enamoured of nature, and in full exertion. You 
may likewise, perhaps, remember, that when I com- 
plained of the ground which Scepticism in religion and 
morals was continually gaining, it did not appear to be 
on my own account, as my private opinions upon these 
important subjects had long been inflexibl}^ determined. 
What I then deplored, and still deplore, was the unhap- 
py influence which that gloomy hesitation had, not only 
upon particular characters, but even upon life in gene- 
ral ; as being equally the bane of action in our present 
state, and of such consolations as we might derive from 
the hopes of a future. 



APPENDIX. ^^ 

I have the pleasure of remaining with sincere esteem 
and respect, 

Dear Sir, 
Your most obedient, humble servant, 

Thomas Blaqklock. 

Edinburgh, November 12^ 1785. 

I am very happy to find that Dr. Blacklock's appa- 
rent uneasiness on the subject of Scepticism was not on 
his own account, (as I supposed,) but from a benevo- 
lent concern for the happiness of mankind. With re- 
spect, however, to the question concerning poetry, and 
composing a dictionary, I am confident that my state of 
Dr. Johnson's position is accurate. One may miscon- 
ceive the motive by which a person is induced to dis- 
cuss a particular topick (as in the case of Dr. Black- 
lock's speaking of Scepticism ;) but an assertion, like 
that made by Dr. Johnson, cannot be easily mistaken. 
And indeed, it seems not very probable, that he who so 
pathetically laments the drudgery to which the unhappy 
lexicographer is doomed, and is known to have written 
his splendid imitation of Juvenal, with astonishing ra- 
pidity, should have had " as much pleasure in writing a 
sheet of a dictionary as a sheet of poetry." Nor can I 
concur with the ingenious writer of the foregoing letter, 
in thinking it an axiom as evident as any in Euclid, that 
*' poetry is of easier execution than lexicography." I 
have no doubt that Bailey, and the '^ mighty blunder- 
buss of law," Jacob, wrote ten pages of their respective 
Dictionaries with more ease than they could have writ- 
ten five pages of poetry. 

If this book should again be reprinted, I shall with the 
utmost readiness correct any errours I may have com- 
mitted, in stating conversations, provided it can be clear- 



412 APPENDIX, 

ly shewn to me that I have been inaccutate. But I am 
slow to believe, (as I have elsewhere observed,) that any 
man's memory at the distance of several years, can pre- 
serve facts or sayings with such fidelity as may be done 
by writing them down when they are recent : and I beg 
it may be remembered, that it is not upon memory^ but 
upon what was written at the time, that the authenticity 
of my Journal rests. 



■iv 



APPENDIX, ^'18 

■■'"'**''''' No. IL 

The following verses, written by Sir Alexander (now 
Lord) Macdonald, and addressed and presented to 
Dr. Johnson, at Armidale, in the Isle of Sky, should 
have appeared in the proper place, if the authour of 
this Journal had been possessed of them ; but this 
edition was almost printed oiF, when he was acci- 
dentally furnished with a copy by a friendL. 

Viator, o qui nostra per tequora 
Visurus agros Skiaticos venis, 
En te salutantes tributim 

Undique conglomerantur oris 

Donaldiani^ — quotquot in insults 
Comfiescit arctis limitibus mare ; 
Alitque jamdudum, ac alendos 
Piscibus indigenas fovebit . 

Ciere Jluctus siste, ProceUiger^ 
JVec tu laborans perge, precor, ratis, 
JVe conjugem plangat marita, 
A'e doleat- soboles parentem. 

JSfec te vicissim peniteat virum 
Luxisse ;—'vestro scimus ut tsstuant 
In corde luctantes dolores, 
Cumferiant inopina corpusi 

Quidni I peremptum clade tuentibus 
Plus semper illo qui moritur pati 
Datur, doloris dum profundos 
Pervia mens aperit recessus. 

Valete luctus ; — hinc lacrymabiles 
Arcete visus c—^ibimus, ibimus 
Superbienti qua theatro 

Fingalie fnemorantur autx. 



414 APPENDIX. 

Illustris hosfies ! mox sfiatiabere 
Qua mens ruince ducta meatibus 
Gaudebit explorare ccetus 

Buccina qua cecinit triumfihos 

Auditi ? resurgens afiiral anhelitu 
Dux tcsitato, suscitat efficax 
Poeta manesy ingruitque 
Vi solitd redivivus horror. 

Ahtena quassans tela gravi manu 
Sic ibat atrox Ossiani pater : 
Quiescat urnd, stet Jidelis 
* Phersonius vigil adfavillam 



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